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Great Continental Railway Journeys
Great Continental Railway Journeysis now a firmly established series on BBC2, following in the illustrious tracks of its predecessor - Great British Railway Journeys. Both series are fronted by ex-politician Michael Portillo and in this European odyssey he travels around continental Europe, using George Bradshaw's1913 Continental Railway Guide. Now coming up for its fourth instalment this autumn, Portillo guides the train-travelling fan across Europe arriving at a myriad of magical and historically fascinating cities we all dream of travelling to by train. From London, to Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Copenhagen, Oslo, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Monte Carlo, Prague, Munich, Zurich, Rome, Budapest, St Petersburg; all the way down to Constantinople, Haifa and Jerusalem - Portillo describes the great feats of engineering that built the various railway lines connecting Europe and further afield and the men and women who made these journeys famous through their deeds and words. The new series (6x1-hour) will transmit in early November 2015, and this book will be the official, lavishly illustrated tie-in covering every single journey Portillo has undertaken across Europe. Capturing all the colour, beauty, excitement and fervour of journeying across this historic continent can muster. A must-have purchase for any armchair fan of unique and award-winning travel programming.
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 29, 2019
i found this an addition to the TV series more than a read in its own right, thus said there is plenty of interesting information within its pages, a well structure book throughout, no editorial errors, Very appealing for anybody interesting in railways. Like the TV series, this book is good..
June 16, 2016
More of an accompaniment to the series than a general history - the structure is neither chronological nor zonal, but episodic, jumping between wars and governments throughout the past two hundred years.
King Boris III of Bulgaria sounds like a top bloke.
King Boris III of Bulgaria sounds like a top bloke.
December 1, 2020
Hi there. My name is Kieron (1985 - Present) and I spent just over 6 hours (360 minutes, 21,600 seconds) reading (or more accurately listening to) this book which is approximately 1.5 inches (3.81cm, 38mm) thick if you buy the physical copy but takes up no physical space should you listen to the audio book (although there is the consequence that some memory (measured in GB (1,000,000,000 bytes using the decimal definition and 1,073,741,824 bytes using the binary definition) by most international standards) will be used on your chosen device.
One benefit of the audio book is that you can listen whilst driving, on either standard roads, dual carriage ways or motorways, and I took advantage of this feature to listen whilst driving at 30mph (48.2kmph) and even 70mph (112.65kmph). Piero Puricelli (1883 - 1951) was responsible for the design of the first motorway (built in Italy starting in 1922 linking Milan to Lake Como and inaugurated by King Vittorio Emanuele III (1869 - 1947) in 1923).
Sadly, this is as far as my praise for this book can go. It is, by most recognisable standards, incredibly dull (definition: lacking interest or excitement) and may indeed work better as a cure for insomnia (which is now recognised as a mutation of the Cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) gene discovered by Turkish scientist Professor Tayfun Özçelik (1960 (made this up) - Present).
Perhaps you could give it a try if you really love trains? If not, avoid!
One benefit of the audio book is that you can listen whilst driving, on either standard roads, dual carriage ways or motorways, and I took advantage of this feature to listen whilst driving at 30mph (48.2kmph) and even 70mph (112.65kmph). Piero Puricelli (1883 - 1951) was responsible for the design of the first motorway (built in Italy starting in 1922 linking Milan to Lake Como and inaugurated by King Vittorio Emanuele III (1869 - 1947) in 1923).
Sadly, this is as far as my praise for this book can go. It is, by most recognisable standards, incredibly dull (definition: lacking interest or excitement) and may indeed work better as a cure for insomnia (which is now recognised as a mutation of the Cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) gene discovered by Turkish scientist Professor Tayfun Özçelik (1960 (made this up) - Present).
Perhaps you could give it a try if you really love trains? If not, avoid!
November 19, 2018
Maps?! Ssssshush....
The deaf have an expression in sign language that signifies that the attempt to communicate has been abandoned, because of a broken rail… “Train gone!” It translates roughly to the idea that, “You don’t understand, so let’s just drop it.” The train of thought has departed. Ideas do come and go through time, and all ideas have their heyday. But, the train itself is a part of history that will remain in our consciousness long past the hypothetical time in which they may ever disappear from the landscape.
Where in the world do Jews and Palestinians rub shoulders? They sit side by side while riding between significant Jewish sites, the Damascus Gate, and Palestinian neighborhoods on the light railway. The light railway was built in 2011, and serves all of Jerusalem. This is no small feat, since even a casual reading of the Bible… both old and new testaments… would reveal the depth of racial division between Jews and … well everyone, including women Jews. So, I crossed over between race and gender divisions there, I know. But, shush. It will be fine. Everybody rides the train, [of thought] I am sure.
In describing how trains impacted the import of coffee and hence the coffee culture of Vienna’s coffee shops, the book shares this picture:
A history of Europe and of engineering; Great Continental Railway Journeys is a multifaceted work, versatile enough to serve as either an introduction to European history, or as a summary of history via the Development of trains. It reveals trains as a vehicle of the industrial revolution and the catapult for the invention of other forms of transport; such as funiculars or cable cars, trams (including trolleys or streetcar), metros, and even bicycles. It describes scientific spinoffs from ball bearings, to Doppler radar to dynamite, to wireless radio. The book shows how the rapid transport of goods helped usher in the First World War, as well as the modern age of consumerism.
Fun and games are never far from the track while reading this encyclopedic book. Most interesting was Theodor Märklin who made the first model railway and the world’s biggest model railway in Hamburg, Germany which has 8 miles of track and is operated by 40 computers. The work shares the culture of the continent from the Industrial Revolution through the Victorian Era, into the early 20th Century. Glimpses are caught of Icons such as the Brothers Grimm and the Tour de France.
BBC. I’ve never watched the network, of course. But, I like listening to the news, in the past on the radio and now on apps and the internet. But, this book was created as a supplement for the BBC train travel series by Michael Portillo. I do not think it was actually written by Portillo. Just to be clear, it appears to be compiled by an editorial team. Michael Portillo wrote the introduction that appears before the first chapter, and his name appears on the cover as having written the introduction. It is laid out in an ‘itinerary’ format, covering the adoption of railroads by all the major countries in order.
I planned to just read the Audible, but then I noticed that the hardback is filled with photos and is wonderful! So, I ordered that and followed along with the narration. The Audible is not narrated by Michael Portillo, except for his introduction. But, it is narrated by Nicky Henson in an excellent reading voice with high quality. I loved it! This was my stop in Israel for my Journey Around the World in 80 Books for 2018, since it presented Israel in a modern context. My next stop will be across the Mediterranean to Tunisia on the African continent. It is also part of my collection of Train Books to be read.
All that was missing was maps. There was not a map in the book. I say that because it was going through my head the whole book. Inside the front and back covers a map is printed, or a picture of a map… the same map. It is supposedly a copy of the map of the Railways of Europe that appeared in an earlier guidebook, but it is such tiny detail that it does not present information, but is rather ornamental. And, the same exact map is inside the back cover. Why would they pay to duplicate the same map but not add small inset maps in each chapter for the train routes covered? Also, each text page had the stationary look of being printed on a map atlas, because each top left and bottom right corner showed the corner of an ambiguous map of streets. It looked pretty, but served no function. Finally, almost at the end, I encountered one map photo, but again it was a tiny photo of a large scale map and didn’t show anything of value. But, sssshush…. Just whip out your mobile with Google maps, into which you can speak text origin and destination names. Then click the rail icon and you will often get a visual of the current train route between those two cities. This did not take away from my enjoyment of the book. I just mention it because, well it was a curious omission. But, once you read it you will see why you won't mind the lack of maps at all.
The deaf have an expression in sign language that signifies that the attempt to communicate has been abandoned, because of a broken rail… “Train gone!” It translates roughly to the idea that, “You don’t understand, so let’s just drop it.” The train of thought has departed. Ideas do come and go through time, and all ideas have their heyday. But, the train itself is a part of history that will remain in our consciousness long past the hypothetical time in which they may ever disappear from the landscape.
“We are what we are thanks to both geniuses and tyrants, because of both virtue and evil.” – Michael Portillo
Where in the world do Jews and Palestinians rub shoulders? They sit side by side while riding between significant Jewish sites, the Damascus Gate, and Palestinian neighborhoods on the light railway. The light railway was built in 2011, and serves all of Jerusalem. This is no small feat, since even a casual reading of the Bible… both old and new testaments… would reveal the depth of racial division between Jews and … well everyone, including women Jews. So, I crossed over between race and gender divisions there, I know. But, shush. It will be fine. Everybody rides the train, [of thought] I am sure.
In describing how trains impacted the import of coffee and hence the coffee culture of Vienna’s coffee shops, the book shares this picture:
”…the coffee houses were usually packed. In 1913, the customers included Stalin and Trotsky, both using different names at the time and in exile. They apparently met for the first time in Vienna and even then there was little warmth between the two, despite their shared aspirations for revolution in Russia. One of the art students in the city was Adolf Hitler and the factory workers had among their number a young Marshal Tito, who would eventually rule Yugoslavia. Moving in more hallowed circles was Sigmund Freud…”
A history of Europe and of engineering; Great Continental Railway Journeys is a multifaceted work, versatile enough to serve as either an introduction to European history, or as a summary of history via the Development of trains. It reveals trains as a vehicle of the industrial revolution and the catapult for the invention of other forms of transport; such as funiculars or cable cars, trams (including trolleys or streetcar), metros, and even bicycles. It describes scientific spinoffs from ball bearings, to Doppler radar to dynamite, to wireless radio. The book shows how the rapid transport of goods helped usher in the First World War, as well as the modern age of consumerism.
"With the railway narrative comes another, darker chapter which progresses on a parallel track, that of how nations eschewed the economic prosperity that train services brought in order to wage war against one another."
Fun and games are never far from the track while reading this encyclopedic book. Most interesting was Theodor Märklin who made the first model railway and the world’s biggest model railway in Hamburg, Germany which has 8 miles of track and is operated by 40 computers. The work shares the culture of the continent from the Industrial Revolution through the Victorian Era, into the early 20th Century. Glimpses are caught of Icons such as the Brothers Grimm and the Tour de France.
"It was the most terrifying thing - these two bursts of speed flying past each other at apparantly double their real rate; you could see neither carriages nor passengers, just black and white shapes in a sort of whirlwind... each train had 60 carriages so over 1,000 people were carried off by the hurricane. " - Victor Hugo
BBC. I’ve never watched the network, of course. But, I like listening to the news, in the past on the radio and now on apps and the internet. But, this book was created as a supplement for the BBC train travel series by Michael Portillo. I do not think it was actually written by Portillo. Just to be clear, it appears to be compiled by an editorial team. Michael Portillo wrote the introduction that appears before the first chapter, and his name appears on the cover as having written the introduction. It is laid out in an ‘itinerary’ format, covering the adoption of railroads by all the major countries in order.
I planned to just read the Audible, but then I noticed that the hardback is filled with photos and is wonderful! So, I ordered that and followed along with the narration. The Audible is not narrated by Michael Portillo, except for his introduction. But, it is narrated by Nicky Henson in an excellent reading voice with high quality. I loved it! This was my stop in Israel for my Journey Around the World in 80 Books for 2018, since it presented Israel in a modern context. My next stop will be across the Mediterranean to Tunisia on the African continent. It is also part of my collection of Train Books to be read.
All that was missing was maps. There was not a map in the book. I say that because it was going through my head the whole book. Inside the front and back covers a map is printed, or a picture of a map… the same map. It is supposedly a copy of the map of the Railways of Europe that appeared in an earlier guidebook, but it is such tiny detail that it does not present information, but is rather ornamental. And, the same exact map is inside the back cover. Why would they pay to duplicate the same map but not add small inset maps in each chapter for the train routes covered? Also, each text page had the stationary look of being printed on a map atlas, because each top left and bottom right corner showed the corner of an ambiguous map of streets. It looked pretty, but served no function. Finally, almost at the end, I encountered one map photo, but again it was a tiny photo of a large scale map and didn’t show anything of value. But, sssshush…. Just whip out your mobile with Google maps, into which you can speak text origin and destination names. Then click the rail icon and you will often get a visual of the current train route between those two cities. This did not take away from my enjoyment of the book. I just mention it because, well it was a curious omission. But, once you read it you will see why you won't mind the lack of maps at all.
January 8, 2017
An excellent companion to a great TV series. One to dip into again and again and inspire further reading.
July 27, 2023
I really enjoyed Michael Portillo's TV show and ordered the book from my local library. It has some lovely photos and is well written and has inspired me to look at a trip around Europe on the trains following some of the journeys from this book and TV series. There was a time when Michael Palin was the archetypal foppish Brit abroad but Michael Portillo has taken over this accolade. If it keeps him out of politics too that can't be a bad thing. One thing I like about the TV series is guessing what garish pastel shades of chinos and jacket Michael is going to wear for each journey. There are precious few pictures of the man himself in this book which is an added bonus.
April 26, 2021
This easy-to-read book facilitates time travel. It is not just about trains, but is also a useful "potted history" of modern Europe and the middle East from 1830 to 1914. Peppered with eclectic anecdotes about key personalities, it is an entertaining history of rail travel, with illuminating snippets of political history woven cleverly into the travelogue.
June 5, 2022
With an introduction written by Michael Portillo, this book tells the story of the beginning of railways in continental Europe as recorded in the iconic Bradshaw's Guide, which is still in print.
The information from Bradshaw's which features heavily in the book is used to provide the history of not only the railways but of the cities the trains went through.
The information from Bradshaw's which features heavily in the book is used to provide the history of not only the railways but of the cities the trains went through.
August 30, 2019
One of those books you read a chapter a day off. Interesting, but not one to read in a single sitting. As other people have said, it's a bit disorganised but if you're interested in European Industial History, specifically trains, it might be worth finding a cheap copy.
November 5, 2022
Interesting snippets and stories from the incredible history of expanding rail building and its impact across the Continent.
August 13, 2023
In a TV program a presenter can link a number of disparate items together via a journey and it will make an entertaining hour. However basing a book round the same journeys makes for a bitty and confusing book which jumps around randomly in both time and space.
The information is sometimes interesting and I nearly gave the book three stars because of that. However I found the book so disorienting that I nearly abandoned it a number of times - so two stars.
The information is sometimes interesting and I nearly gave the book three stars because of that. However I found the book so disorienting that I nearly abandoned it a number of times - so two stars.
April 15, 2017
Lots of interesting little things but in absolutely no order.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews