Britain gave railways to the world, yet its own network is the dearest (definitely) & the worst (probably) in Western Europe. Trains are deeply embedded in the national psyche & 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 & even sexual repression. To uncover its mysteries, Engel has travelled the system from Penzance to Thurso, exploring its history & 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, &
- after a quest lasting decades
- an Individual Pot of Strawberry Jam. ” Eleven Minutes Late” is both a polemic & a paean, & it is also very funny.