The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations

Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations

Summary

Discover the architectural gems that are Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations in this Sunday Times top 10 bestseller

'This is a cracker . . . a beautiful book' Chris Evans

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 travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best railway stations. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences - including his founding the Railway Heritage Trust - the foremost expert on our national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design and significance of each of these glories.

Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of our social history shows the station's role in the national 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 marvellous, often undersung places that link our nation, celebrated like never before.

'However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages' The Times

'An uplifting exploration of our social history' Guardian

Reviews

  • [Spreads] enthusiasm by inviting the reader to join in a game of admiration.
    Christopher Howse, Telegraph

About the author

Simon Jenkins

Simon Jenkins is author of the bestselling A Short History of England, A Short History of Europe, Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations, England's Thousand Best Churches and England's Thousand Best Houses. He is a former Editor of the Evening Standard and The Times, and columnist for the Guardian.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more