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Three Men and a Bradshaw

Three Men and a Bradshaw

Summary

Wryly humorous and quintessentially British, Three Men and a Bradshaw collects the previously unpublished holiday journals of John Freeman, who travelled Britain with his brothers during the 1870s. Each year the trio would settle upon a destination, buy their tickets and set off – armed, of course, with their trusty Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Hand-book.

John's delightful records of their trips contain much that will resonate with the modern traveller, from the eccentricities of fellow passengers and locals to the tender mercies of the British climate. At the same time they offer insights into the experiences particular to a Victorian tourist, and are full of valuable local history on everywhere from Devon and Jersey to Scotland and Wales.

Beautifully illustrated throughout with John’s original drawings, this is a fascinating and uniquely personal historical artefact, as well as an enchanting and frequently hilarious evocation of a distant but still wholly recognisable Britain.

Reviews

  • If you're stuck for something to read on your next train journey you'd have to go a long way to find a more diverting way to pass the time.
    Scotsman

About the author

John George Freeman

John George Freeman was born in 1846 in Marylebone, London. A cloth merchant by trade, he and his brothers, Charles and Joseph, were keen proponents of the burgeoning mass-transit tourism of the late nineteenth century. The three brothers travelled widely across Britain in the 1870s, with John keeping beautifully illustrated diaries of their adventures throughout. John died shortly after their last holiday in 1883, at the age of thirty-six.
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