Christian Wolmar

"There have been many books about D-Day and the Allied invasion of Europe that ended the World War Two. But one dramatic aspect of this story has been almost entirely ignored. Until now. "The Liberation Line" shows that without the incredible, indomitable work of the US Military Rail Service, and their counterparts in the British Royal Engineers, who overcame enemy attacks, sabotage, and booby traps to repair many hundreds of miles of destroyed railway...

Driverless cars are the future. That is what the tech giants, the auto industry and even the government want us to think. Almost daily, there are media stories about how we will soon all be able to rip up our driving licenses, sit in the back seat and let the car take us around. But, is this really going to happen? Christian Wolmar has dug behind the hype and found a very different story. We are nowhere near this driverless utopia. Indeed, it may...

“Fire and Steam” tells the dramatic story of the people and events that shaped the world's first railway network, one of the most impressive engineering achievements in history. The opening of the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830 marked the beginning of the railways' vital role in changing the face of Britain. “Fire and Steam” celebrates the vision and determination of the ambitious Victorian pioneers who developed this...

India was the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. There were vast riches to be exploited and vast numbers of people to be subjugated. How better to achieve these aims than by building a rail network that facilitated the export of raw material and made it easier for troops to travel around the country to tackle uprisings? India joined the railway age late: the first line was not completed until 1853 but, by 1929, 41,000 miles of track served...

London hosts a dozen major railway stations, more than any comparable city. King's Cross, St Pancras, Euston, Marylebone, Paddington, Victoria, Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Waterloo, London Bridge, Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street-these great termini are the hub of London's transport system and their complex history, of growth, decline and epic renewal has determined much of the city's character today. Christian Wolmar tells the dramatic and...

The Industrial Revolution was the single most important event in the development of the modern railway and one train from that era came to symbolize the new age of steam: Stephenson's Rocket.

In this episode, we travel aboard the GWR to experience a journey of a by-gone age.