David St John Thomas – författare

Originally published in 1963, this book was the first to survey the rural transport problem as a whole, and it includes the results of extensive research in an important but until then neglected field. The issues of increased car ownership and the reduction of train and bus services and the social impact of this is discussed, as well the question of subsidies in the UK as a whole. Three area specific studies deal with the Lake District, Northumberland and Devon.

Originally published in 1963, this book was the first to survey the rural transport problem as a whole, and it includes the results of extensive research in an important but until then neglected field. The issues of increased car ownership and the reduction of train and bus services and the social impact of this is discussed, as well the question of subsidies in the UK as a whole. Three area specific studies deal with the Lake District, Northumberland and Devon.

Possibly the best-loved and most publicized transport system in the world, the GWR is a legend in the world of locomotives. This detailed history shows just how the GWR earned its moniker, "God's Wonderful Railway."The editors have compiled an incredible volume, packed with memories and photographs that recall the locomotives, branch lines, summer Saturday peak traffic, GWR narrow gauge, and more to create a vivid picture of a unique time and place.

Few people can appreciate the joy that being owned by a cat brings better than David St John Thomas - the latest in a long line of publishers and authors to pay homage to the very special cats who have entered their busy lives. This is a book for everyone who really cares about cats. Vividly written, sometimes serious, sometimes light-hearted, anyone who has fallen for a cat, however much against their better judgement, is bound to find it uplifting. While cat people are nice (Hitler couldn't stand them!), the real heroes in this book are naturally the cats themselves. A rich portfolio of feline characters - including the author's own cats - step off the page, or perhaps lie curled in seductive curves on it, so vividly that you can feel their fur and hear their purr! Rich in entertaining anecdotes and asides, For the Love of a Cat will enhance every cat owner's understanding of their feline friend and remind them again and again just how lucky they are to share their lives with this most fascinating of creatures.

Possibly read more than any other railway book, The Country Railway has sold over 170,000 copies. This is a redesigned edition of the original text and photographs. Everyone loved the country railway with its neat stations and colourful gardens, the shining brasswork of its tank engines, viaducts daringly built over gushing rivers, embankments carpeted with flowers, and guards whose appearance and voice as well as the traffic they carried in their vans reflected exactly the character of the terrain being served. Basing his work on deep historical research and rich personal experience, David St John Thomas lovingly portrays the branch and cross-country railway in all its nostalgic, technical and commercial aspects. He tells of the days of high expectation when the local promoters first met and chose the architectural style for their stations, sees the navvies at work hacking through the countryside, reports the arrival of the first trains, recalls the troubled realisation when traffic receipts failed to provide enough for dividends. Stations, signalboxes, engines and their men, coaches and trucks, cattle docks and railway pubs, junctions and termini, varied landscapes, special occasions and disasters… In words and pictures here is a unique study for railway enthusiasts and for those who just miss the passing of the country railway.

Celebrate the days when trains were trains, individual expresses had their own character, serving their passengers in style in restaurant car, and connecting services ran over picturesque branch lines that were a very part of the countryside they served.Railway Season by David St John Thomas whose Country Railway sold an astonishing 170,000 copies, captures all our railway yesterdays with panache. This is indeed a railway book like no other, a portfolio of word portraits by an enthusiast who knows his subject intimately and is never at a loss for a telling example.From his imaginary but life-like 'Day in the life of a country terminus' to the ground-breaking stuff of the natural history of railways, and from the colourful history of excursions to a poignant reminder of what traffic used to be like on peak Summer Saturdays, an evocation of watching trains and a reminder of Christmases past, the book rolls irresistibly along ... and that only mentions a fraction of the chapters.Though this is not specifically a book about the country side inevitably it looms large since even intercity trains run through it ... as demonstrated in the chapter 'A country journey like no other', which also emphasizes the author's West Country background. But whatever your interest in railways and wherever your favourite part of the countryside, there is much here for you. The chapter on railways for pleasure perhaps sums it all up.

Cats Work Like This is for cat lovers who know that even after ten thousand years of living with cats, no one really has a clue what their cat is thinking. In this insider’s guide to the habits of these puzzling animals, the authors offer insights from two generations of watching their cats work. They share the sometimes hilarious and often astonishing observations on cats that have accumulated over ages, and offer some useful insights into how to understand your own cat.Though there are many famous felines, it is the day to day cat which provides the most enduring interest. Though each one’s behaviour and mannerisms are unique, we can find enough practices in common to guide you to becoming an expert in how cats work.Chapters include Habits, with an insight into how cats train you to have the right ones; and The Scientific Cat, with observations and empirical learning following the classic scientific method, as cats don’t listen well enough to be subjects in any other kind of experimentation.Learn how cats practice their values and explore what your cats know about you. Find out what cats do while you sleep, what a cat’s eyes can tell you and what there is to understand about political and ‘eco’ cats. With a focus on attention, emotion, cute affection, manipulation, cunning and cussedness, Cats Work Like This gives a rare insight into the workings of a cat’s elusive mind.