Benedict Le Vay

Benedict le Vay is a London-born journalist, author and ‘rather bad yachtsman and potter’ who has worked as a newspaper sub-editor in major newspapers in Britain, Hong Kong and New Zealand. A father of two, his books have included the best-selling Eccentric Britain, Eccentric London, Eccentric Oxford and Eccentric Cambridge guides, and also Britain From The Rails: A Window-Gazer’s Guide, all published by Bradt.

Asked if he himself is eccentric, he says: ‘Not at all, I’m afraid. The best I can do is being Honorary Secretary of the Friends of the A272, and asking for my ashes to be blasted from the chimney of my favourite steam loco at my funeral. But then hasn’t everyone?’

Now he's written Weeping Waters: When Train Meets Volcano, a nail biting yet at times nostalgic recreation of the 1953 Tangiwai disaster, New Zealand's worst rail crash. He says: 'I hope to bring this all-but-forgotten event back to life. It's taken me 15 years to finish this book, but I realise there has been a huge injustice about Tangiwai left unresolved for all these years.' Since publication that book has helped change history in the way that disaster is seen and commemorated, so the latest edition updates the ending.

Plus the hugely successful The Secret History of Everyday Stuff: Astounding, Fascinating Or Remarkable Facts About Your Everyday Life. 'This book is just loved by readers, who write in with comments, and the joy of publishing on Amazon is that I can just add items any time.'

Then in time for the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was Pearl Harbor, Still Shocking 75 Years On. The subtitle is: 'The untold surprised about the world's biggest surprise attack' He explains: 'This is a slim volume - at a slim price - but I guarantee anyone will find absolutely fascinating new aspects of this crucial moment in history.

And the most recent book by Ben is Madcap Military Mayhem: 200 years of the unbelievably bizarre, barmy, bungled, brave and bloody brilliant.