Book description
Britain gave railways to the world, yet its own network is the dearest
(definitely) and the worst (probably) in Western Europe. Trains are
deeply embedded in the national psyche and folklore - yet it is
considered uncool to care about them.
For Matthew Engel the railway system is the ultimate expression of
Britishness. It represents all the nation's ingenuity, incompetence,
nostalgia, corruption, humour, capacity for suffering and even sexual
repression. To uncover its mysteries, Engel has travelled the system
from Penzance to Thurso, exploring its history and talking to people
from politicians to platform staff.
Along the way Engel ('half-John Betjeman, half-Victor Meldrew') finds
the most charmingly bizarre train in Britain, the most beautiful branch
line, the rudest railwayman, and - after a quest lasting decades - an
Individual Pot of Strawberry Jam. Eleven Minutes Late
is both a polemic and a paean, and it is also very funny. Matthew
Engel was for over 25 years a journalist at the Guardian
newspaper. During that time he reported wars, elections, the fall of the
Berlin Wall, and countless major sporting events ranging from three
Olympic Games to the world tiddlywinks championships. He now writes the
least fiscally aware columns on the Financial Times and is editor of
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
. His last book, Extracts from the Red Notebooks
, was also published by Macmillan. He leaves in Herefordshire with his
wife Hilary and daughter Vika.
