Britains 100 Best Railway Stations

It is the scene for our hopeful beginnings and our intended ends, and the timeless experiences of coming and going, meeting, greeting, and parting. It is an institution with its own rituals and priests, and a long-neglected aspect of Britain''s architecture. And yet so little do we look at the railway station. Simon Jenkins has traveled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences—including his founding of the Railway Heritage Trust—the foremost expert on Britain''s national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design, and significance of each of these glories. Beautifully illustrated with color photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of social history shows the station''s role in Britain''s imagination; champions the engineers, architects, and rival companies that made them possible; and tells the story behind the triumphs and follies of these very British creations. These are the marvelous, often undersung places that link the nation, celebrated like never before.