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

Nicholas Faith, Foreword by Professor Sir Peter Hall

ISBN 10: 1898618038 / ISBN 13: 9781898618034

Published by Segrave Foulkes, London, 2007

About this Item

First Edition (NAP). As you can see, the orange covers are exceptionally clean. They have only a little wear, a little creasing at and around the top edge of the spine (see fifth photo). The book is square and solidly bound from cover to cover. The pages are all exceptionally clean. I don't see any soiling at all anywhere. Nor are there any markings or attachments. And no one has written their name or anything else anywhere in this book. There is a very light and tiny crease or indent at the very tip of the top corners of the pages. This was likely caused by a mild bump. You can see it, but it's inconspicuous. The dust jacket is in solid condition. As is the case with the book there is some creasing at and around the top edge of the spine. There's also a thin crease off the top edge of the rear cover. There are no tears on the jacket. As you can see, it is very clean. It is NOT price-clipped, not clipped at all, and will be fitted with a protective cover after the photos are scanned. 'The Right Line tells the backstage story, unbelievable, frustrating, at times hilarious, of why Britain's high-speed line took so long, with so many false starts.' '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.'.

Seller Inventory # 002214

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Right Line: The Politics, The Planning And The Against-The-Odds Gamble Behind Britain's First High-Speed Railway
• Publisher: Segrave Foulkes, London
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1898618038
• ISBN 13: 9781898618034
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Travel, Exploration, Navigation, Transportation
  • United Kingdom
  • Western Europe

About this title

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.