In 1825, the Stockton &Darlington company strode into history with the opening of the world's first public steam railway. What the S&DR had started soon picked up speed, transforming lives and landscapes, connecting far-flung corners of the nation, and creating its own distinctive environments and working worlds.

This ambitious and lavishly illustrated volume brings the story of Britain's railways to life, spanning two centuries of change and achievement. Full of colour and movement, it is an exhilarating journey through time and space, revisiting favourite themes and introducing unfamiliar stories and places.

Comprising deeply researched entries on everything from dining saloons to collecting dogs, wartime salvage efforts and the iconic Rail Alphabet, Simon Bradley gives George Bradshaw a run for his money in this definitive history of the making of Britain's railways.