The 8.55 To Baghdad

A fascinating contemporary journey which reveals the secret life of the world's most famous detective writer.

If there ever was a lesson in how to construct a travel book, this is it. Eames has the acute eye and polished pen of an outstanding observer ... a splendid read

Two terrific subjects ... the surprisingly adventurous life of Agatha Christie and the major hotspots of current world politics

Vivid and atmospheric ... Eames has succeeded in the difficult task of closing an entertaining travel narrative with the brutal conclusions of modern history

A thoroughly enjoyable read that combines an Agatha-centric travelogue with a thought-provoking journey through a benighted land

Agatha Christie fans, as well as connoisseurs of travel writing, will relish British journalist Eames' gripping, humorous and eye-opening account

Andrew Eames was born in 1958. His career in journalism started in south-east Asia, where he travelled and lived for two years. From there he returned to the UK to work first on specialist magazines and then in guide book publishing. Ten years ago he went freelance, and has been writing travel and general interest features mainly for national newspapers, such as The Telegraph and The Times. He is the author of Crossing the Shadow Line, Four Scottish Journeys and Benn's London. 
 
He is married with two children.

Travel journalist Andrew Eames was in the ancient Syrian city of Aleppo when he met an elderly lady who had known Agatha Christie. Fascinated by the exotic history of this quintessentially English crime writer, he decided to retrace the trip from London to Baghdad which she made in 1928 - a journey which was to change Agatha Christie completely and led to her other life as the wife of an archaeologist in the deserts of Syria and Iraq. Travelling from London to Baghdad by train on the eve of the Iraq war, through the troubled areas of the Balkans and the Middle East, Eames found stark contrasts to the old Orient Express route as well as some unexpected connections with the past.

Andrew Eames

Paddy Leigh Fermor... would surely approve

Captures the physical joy of travel wonderfully... a journey worth following

Eames has the adventurousness and pleasantly self-deprecating sense of humour that makes a good travel writer... Few will forget Eames's lament for the demise of the river in the modern era.

Eames is unquestionably a master of travel writing... both entertaining and illuminating

A pleasant float through our emerging continent

Absorbing and highly entertaining... Rarely do you read a travel book that so effortlessly combines history, culture, an acute observational eye and a sense of humour

The Danube is Europe's Amazon. It flows through more countries than any other river on Earth - from the Black Forest in Germany to Europe's farthest fringes, where it joins the Black Sea in Romania. Andrew Eames' journey along its length brings us face to face with the Continent's bloodiest history and its most pressing issues of race and identity. 
 
As he travels - by bicycle, horse, boat and on foot - Eames finds himself seeking a bed for the night with minor royalty, hitching a ride on a Serbian barge captained by a man called Attila and getting up close and personal with a bull in rural Romania. He meets would-be kings and walks with gypsies, and finally rows his way beyond the borders of Europe entirely...

Andrew Eames

Praise for Blue River, Black Sea

Paddy Leigh Fermor... would surely approve

Captures the physical joy of travel wonderfully... a journey worth following

Eames has the adventurousness and pleasantly self-deprecating sense of humour that makes a good travel writer... Few will forget Eames's lament for the demise of the river in the modern era.

Paddy Leigh Fermor... would surely approve

Captures the physical joy of travel wonderfully... a journey worth following

Eames has the adventurousness and pleasantly self-deprecating sense of humour that makes a good travel writer... Few will forget Eames's lament for the demise of the river in the modern era.

Paddy Leigh Fermor... would surely approve

Captures the physical joy of travel wonderfully... a journey worth following

Eames has the adventurousness and pleasantly self-deprecating sense of humour that makes a good travel writer... Few will forget Eames's lament for the demise of the river in the modern era.

Books by Andrew Eames

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