Martin, Andrew – The Bell Bookshop

To the Sea by Train

Emma — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

‘Andrew Martin is a railway wizard’ Telegraph ‘Leaves you with renewed confidence that trains can still be the most civilised way to travel’ Financial Times Throughout the twentieth century, the seaside service posters of Britain’s railways promised fresh air and frivolity to millions of urban dwellers with the phrase: ‘To the sea by train’. A staple of modern British life, the seaside getaway was intertwined with the train, in whose compartments holidaymakers were shunted from smog-choked cities to sandy coves.With his signature wit and anecdotal style, Andrew Martin captures an era defined by its railways: from the development of Brighton and Scarborough into pleasure resorts, and the introduction of bank holidays and two-day weekends, to the advent of cheap flights and the British coast’s subsequent decline. Humorous and evocative, To the Sea by Train takes a charming tour through Britain’s most beloved pastime.

The Night in Venice

Emma — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

‘A MASTER OF HISTORICAL CRIME FICTION’ GUARDIAN

The Talented Mr Ripley meets A Room with a View in this dark and irresistible historical novel featuring Monica: a fourteen-year-old girl with a disturbing imagination . . .

Venice, 1911. Monica is a fourteen-year-old with a wild imagination and an unbearably dull governess named Rose Driscoll. She was supposed to be entering the most exciting time of her life but, with her parents and uncle now dead, she has been forced to leave leafy Hampstead and move to a flat on the busy Holloway Road with a woman who is living proof that an exciting life is not guaranteed.

Driscoll has dutifully planned this trip to Venice, as directed by a ‘letter of wishes’ in a will, but on the very first morning, as the sunlight streams through the curtains of their Palazzo, Monica wakes up to a horrible realisation: has she killed her only guardian?

Too scared to find out the truth, Monica flees her room and immerses herself in the mysterious streets, canals and squares of Venice, all the while her thoughts spinning back to a dark childhood in London and her fear of what the future holds.

Metropolitain

Emma — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

‘An utterly enjoyable voyage under Paris’ – THE OLDIE
‘Delightful and diverting… Martin is the most unpretentious and companionable of guides; the book is great fun’ – LITERARY REVIEW
‘An eclectic blend of engineering and travelogue, urban planning and anecdote… a sincere love letter’ – THE ECONOMIST

Andrew Martin has been described as ‘the laureate of railways’, having written many books with railway themes. Metropolitain: An Ode to the Paris Metro, is the first English history of the Metro for the general reader.

Metropolitain is as stylish as the Metro itself and laced with cultural references. Andrew explains why Last Tango in Paris is a great Metro film, and what the Metro chase scene in the classic thriller, Le Samourai, says about Parisian culture. We also meet Andrew’s half-English, half-French friend, Julian, who runs a society dedicated to Metro history. He tells Andrew, ‘A Metro station is like the wine cellar of chateau, which is a very nice thing to be reminded of.’

The book takes the reader on a constant tour of Paris, both underground and over. But Paris, and the Metro, is changing, undergoing a huge expansion. This, and the imminence of the Paris Olympics, make this a timely title.

The night in Venice

Emma — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

‘A master of historical crime fiction’ Guardian
‘A writer in full command of his subject’ Mail on Sunday
‘Martin’s novels are works of literature, not simply puzzles’ Financial Times

The Talented Mr Ripley meets A Room with a View in this dark and irresistible historical novel featuring Monica: a fourteen-year-old girl with a disturbing imagination . . .

Train teasers

Emma — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

When was smoking banned on trains?Which actor restored kippers to the menu of the Brighton Belle?What regular lineside event did Dickens describe as ‘a shave in the air’? Perfect for a trivia night or a long trip, Train Teasers will both test your knowledge of this country’s rail system and enlighten you on the most colourful aspects of its long history. Meet trunk murderers, trainspotters, haters of railways, railway writers, Ministers for Transport good and bad, railway cats, dogs and a railway penguin. This is NOT a book for number-crunching nerds. Many of the answers are guessable by the intelligent reader. It is a quiz, yes, but also a cavalcade of historical incident and colour relating to a system that was the making of modern Britain.

Metropolitain

Emma — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

‘An utterly enjoyable voyage under Paris’ – Christopher Howse, THE OLDIE

Andrew Martin has been described as ‘the laureate of railways’, having written many books with railway themes. But Andrew has always been obsessed with the Paris Metro, hence Metropolitain: An Ode to the Paris Metro, the first English history of the Metro for the general reader.

Metropolitain is as stylish as the Metro itself and laced with cultural references. Andrew explains why Last Tango in Paris is a great Metro film, and what the Metro chase scene in the classic thriller, Le Samourai, says about Parisian culture. He describes how he came to appreciate the beauty of Guimard’s sinuous green Metro entrances when he bought a lily of the valley and observed it flowering on his desk. We meet Andrew’s half-English, half-French friend, Julian, who runs a society dedicated to Metro history. He tells Andrew, ‘A Metro station is like the wine cellar of chateau, which is a very nice thing to be reminded of.’

Train Teasers

Emma — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Steam Trains Today

Emma — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

‘A delightful book … the perfect companion as you wait for the 8.10 from Hove’ ObserverAfter the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, many railways were gradually shut down. Rural communities were isolated and steam trains slowly gave way to diesel and electric traction.But some people were not prepared to let the romance of train travel die. Thanks to their efforts, many lines passed into community ownership and are now booming with new armies of dedicated volunteers. Andrew Martin meets these volunteer enthusiasts, finding out just what it is about preserved railways that makes people so devoted. From the inspiration for Thomas the Tank Engine to John Betjeman’s battle against encroaching modernity, Steam Trains Today will take you on a heart-warming journey across Britain from Aviemore to Epping.

Underground Overground

Emma — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Why is the Victoria Line so hot? What is an Electrical Multiple Unit? Is it really possible to ride from King’s Cross to King’s Cross on the Circle line?The London Underground is the oldest, most sprawling and illogical metropolitan transport system in the world, the result of a series of botch-jobs and improvisations.Yet it transports over one billion passengers every year – and this figure is rising. It is iconic, recognised the world over, and loved and despised by Londoners in equal measure. Blending reportage, humour and personal encounters, Andrew Martin embarks on a wonderfully engaging social history of London’s underground railway system (which despite its name, is in fact fifty-five per cent overground). Underground, Overground is a highly enjoyable, witty and informative history of everything you need to know about the Tube.