The 8.55 to Baghdad

Andrew Eames, an adventurous and sympathetic observer; sets out to travel from London to Baghdad by train, following the route of the old Orient Express and an identical journey made by Agatha Christie in 1928. Agatha’s journey was to change her life completely and led to her spending thirty seasons on archaeological digs in the deserts of Syria and Iraq. Eames’s own journey reveals fascinating details of this little-known but exotic chapter in the life of the world’s most widely-read author. The journey from London to Baghdad by train today is far harder than it was in Agatha’s day. Many of the countries from the Balkans to the Middle East have been deeply troubled in recent years. Eventually Eames arrives at the Iraqi border at the same time as the UN weapons inspectors, and the shadow of war looms increasingly large.