There are very few journalists who 'get railways' and fewer still who write in the City pages.
If there is a pantheon of such writers then the legendry Christopher Fildes would certainly sit amongst them..
As well as working on the Telegraph's City desk Christopher also wrote the hugely enjoyable City and Suburban column in the Spectator for over 20 years.
It was of course City and Suburban that introduced the world to the great railwayman I K Gricer who offered Speccie readers insights into the industry as it was assailed first by the simplistic adulterer Major and then by the messianic pultroon Blair.
Although City and Suburban came to an end in 2006 the Speccie has wisely called upon Fildes services again to review the latest opus by uber-railway-historian Prof Terry Gourvish, entitled Britain’s Railways 1997-2005: Labour’s Strategic Experiment.
The book sounds a must for all those interested in the political and economic developments in the industry over the last decade.
Meanwhile for those in a hurry it goes without saying that Fildes review is a masterpiece in its own right!
Grimsby and Back
2 years ago
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