Greatest British Railway Journeys

The Sunday Times Bestseller A glorious insight into Britain over the last 150 years - its history, landscape and people - from the window of Britain’s many and magnificent railway journeys.

Great Continental Railway Journeysis now a firmly established series on BBC2, following in the illustrious tracks of its predecessor - Great British Railway Journeys. Both series are fronted by ex-politician Michael Portillo and in this European odyssey he travels around continental Europe, using George Bradshaw's1913 Continental Railway Guide. Now coming up for its fourth instalment this autumn, Portillo guides the train-travelling fan across Europe arriving at a myriad of magical and historically fascinating cities we all dream of travelling to by train. From London, to Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Copenhagen, Oslo, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Monte Carlo, Prague, Munich, Zurich, Rome, Budapest, St Petersburg; all the way down to Constantinople, Haifa and Jerusalem - Portillo describes the great feats of engineering that built the various railway lines connecting Europe and further afield and the men and women who made these journeys famous through their deeds and words. The new series (6x1-hour) will transmit in early November 2015, and this book will be the official, lavishly illustrated tie-in covering every single journey Portillo has undertaken across Europe. Capturing all the colour, beauty, excitement and fervour of journeying across this historic continent can muster. A must-have purchase for any armchair fan of unique and award-winning travel programming.

Great American Railroad Journeys sees the famous brand of social-history-cum-travelogue venture to the New World. Across multiple programmes and using Appleton's General Guide To The United States & Canada as reference, Michael Portillo now undertakes an epic trip by train from New York and Boston on the East Coast down to the Deep South of Atlanta and New Orleans, then on to Chicago, Colorado, New Mexico and ultimately finishing in San Francisco. This lavishly illustrated official tie-in covers each journey Portillo makes across North America and captures the colour, beauty, history and exhilaration experienced when journeying through this incredible continent. Packed with new maps, as well as originals from Appleton's General Guide, this book explores the construction of rail routes across the continent in the 1800s, as a new nation was built by the immigrant masses. Truly this is a colourful and exciting enterprise, with vignettes of revealing social history displaying the rich tapestry of the peoples who established themselves in this vast new world. Great American Railroad Journeys is a must-have purchase for any fan of this unique and award-winning travel series.

The perfect companion to Bradshaw’s guide book. Showcasing in colour all that is great about Bradshaw’s guide.

TEXT ONLY EB The Sunday Times Bestseller A glorious insight into Britain over the last 150 years - its history, landscape and people - from the window of Britain’s many and magnificent railway journeys.