This book is about one ordinary person's efforts, largely carried out single-handedly and with limited funds, to build a model railway layout in his garden that runs just like the real thing.
For British Rail, the 1970s was a time of contrasts, when bad jokes about sandwiches and pork pies often belied real achievements, like increasing computerisation and the arrival of the high-speed Inter-City 125s.
For British Rail, the 1970s was a time of contrasts, when bad jokes about sandwiches and pork pies often belied real achievements, like increasing computerisation and the arrival of the high-speed Inter-City 125s.
A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE GUARDIAN: 'DEEPLY PLEASURABLE'A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE SPECTATOR: 'WHAT A JOY'Magnificent' Guardian'A towering achivement' Financial Times'Inventive, bold, unexpected' Sunday Times'Everything that makes the novel worthwhile and engaging is here: warmth, wit, intelligence, love, death, high seriousness, low comedy, philosophy, subtle personal relationships and the complex interior life of human beings'Guardian'Not since William Boyd's Any Human Heart has a novel captured the feast and famine nature of a single life with such invention and tenderness'Financial Times'There is a pleasing sense of having grappled with the real stuff of life: loss, grief, love, desire, pain, uncertainty, confusion, joy, despair - all while having fun'The Sunday Times'Instantly immersive, playfully inventive, effortlessly wise'Observer'Masterly: a cabinet of curiosities and delights, packed with small wonders'Ian McEwan'A real masterpiece.
