The Right Line: The Politics, the Planning and the Against-The-Odds Gamble Behind Britain's First High-Speed Railway

Nicholas Faith

ISBN 10: 1898618038 / ISBN 13: 9781898618034

Published by Segrave Foulkes, 2007

This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,850grams, ISBN:9781898618034. Seller Inventory # 5797429

Synopsis:

'Britain is no longer separated from Europe by the Channel. it is separated by Kent.' The backstage story, unbelievable, frustrating, at times hilarious, of why Britain's first high-speed rail line, to the Channel Tunnel, took so long to come to pass. It tells how a tiny group of engineers and economists, aided at crucial points by two far-sighted politicians, won an audacious gamble against the political, planning and engineering Establishments. The original plan for the railway was deeply flawed: the combined intellects of Whitehall, British Rail and expert consultants chose a route that threatened 5,000 homes, aroused massive opposition and triggered a major political row. The route eventually chosen was: welcomed by the areas it passes through; spurred £10 billion of development in run-down parts of East London and North Kent; made the London 2012 Olympics possible. The Right Line, by a master of business history, tells how all this was achieved. The plot twists in what has been called 'a political whodunnit'. This story is not just about a railway line. It is a major and wide-ranging work of contemporary history, shining a powerful spotlight on Britain, the British and the way we are governed.

About the Author: Nicholas Faith is a distinguished author and veteran journalist. In the mid-1960s he was investment editor of The Economist and was then recruited by Harry Evans to be industrial editor of the Sunday Times. He helped launch London Broadcasting, Britain s first commercial radio station, as its economics editor. He continued to write regularly for his old paper, for The Economist and for the Saturday edition of the Financial Times. He wrote extensively about railways when with the Sunday Times and in 1989 published The World the Railways Made, covering their influence on every aspect of human society from food to politics. The book was subsequently made into a major three-part BBC TV series with an accompanying book called Locomotion. Right through the 1980s he covered the story of the Channel Tunnel and its rail links and, in 1990, while working for the Independent on Sunday, was the first journalist to highlight the radical, and eventually successful, alternative to BR's proposed route from the Tunnel to London. He has continued to take a lively interest in the project ever since. Over the past thirty years he has written over twenty books on subjects as varied as Swiss banks and the art market as well as prize-winning works on the Bordeaux wine trade and Cognac.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Right Line: The Politics, the Planning ...
Publisher: Segrave Foulkes
Publication Date: 2007
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included