British Railway Enthusiasm (Studies in Popular Culture)

Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008. Book. Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 9 1/2" x 6 1/4", xii, 316 pages, table, 2 maps, [29] figures, bibliography. This is the first academic book to study railway enthusiasts in Britain. Far from a trivial topic, the post-war train spotting craze swept most boys and some girls into a passion for railways, and for many, ignited a lifetime's interest. British railway enthusiasm traces this post-war cohort, and those which followed, as they invigorated different sectors in the world of railway enthusiasm - train spotting, railway modelling, collecting railway relics - and then, in response to the demise of main line steam traction, Britain's now-huge preserved railway industry. Today this industry finds itself riven by tensions between preserving a loved past which ever fewer people can remember and earning money from tourist visitors. The widespread and enduring significance of railway enthusiasm will ensure that this ground-breaking text becomes a key work in transport studies, and will appeal to enthusiasts as much as to students and scholars of transport and cultural history. Hb, fine in near fine dw. .