Latest Products

Victoria Station Through Time - Signed copy

This is the second volume in the Through Time series telling the story of London's famous railway termini. Every year 115 million people pass through Victoria, making it London's second busiest station after Waterloo.

What's inside 'Victoria Station Through Time'

Victoria Station is not one station, but was actually in two parts; one built for the London, Brighton & South Coast railway, the other for the London, Chatham & Dover Railway, with the first of these halves opening in October 1860, and the other following in August 1862.

As such, its architecture and design has always been a mating of two distinctive styles, each with its own booking office, stationmaster, platform numbering and timetable. The original LBSCR station was plain, with a simple iron girder roof, while the LCDR station had a wide canopy roof. Various rebuildings see us with the station of today.

The amalgamation of various lines operating into the South East and Southern England into the Southern Railway, saw the stations finally being joined as one. Victoria has been the gateway to the continent, with boat trains running to various ports in the South Coast and is also a major underground station on the Victoria, District and Circle Lines.

This volume is part of the fully-illustrated Through Time series on London's major railway termini. Others include Waterloo Station, St Pancras, Euston, King’s Cross and Paddington.

'Victoria Station Through Time' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2011
ISBN: 9781445602493
Format: Softback, 96 pages
Size: 234 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

The London Of Sherlock Holmes - Signed copy

"Look out of this window, Watson. See how the figures loom up, are dimly seen, and then blend once more into the cloud-bank. The thief or murderer could roam London on such a day as the tiger does the jungle, unseen until he pounces…"

What's inside 'The London Of Sherlock Holmes'

Arthur Conan Doyle penned 56 short stories and four novels featuring the detective and his faithful assistant, Dr Watson, mostly set in and around London. From 1887 until 1927, each new story captivated readers. Within the stories, over 250 London landmarks and streets are mentioned and John Christopher has brought together archived and more recent images of the most famous of Holmes's London haunts.

Discovering the London of Sherlock Holmes gives the reader an insight into the London of the master detective, with guides to the locations which feature in the stories.

From Scotland Yard to Paddington Station, from Victoria to the Embankment, from the Houses of Parliament to Holmes' own residence in 221B Baker Street, this illustrated guide brings Holmes into the modern day and makes it easy for the fan to guide themselves around the venues from the stories.

'The London Of Sherlock Holmes' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2012
ISBN: 9781445603544
Format: Softback, 96 pages
Size: 234 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

The London & Blackwall Railway - Signed copy

Docklands First Railway Originally known as the Commercial Railway, the London & Blackwall was one of London's earliest and most distinctive lines. Stretching eastwards along a string of viaducts, it went from the City to Blackwall on the Thames.

What's inside the book 'The London & Blackwall Railway - Docklands First Railway'

It was worked by a rope haulage system initially, rather than conventional locomotives, and was built to a non-standard gauge of about 5 feet (all the more surprising given the involvement of the engineer Robert Stephenson).

The railway served a mixed clientele, with dock workers and seamen rubbing shoulders with day-trippers and travellers connecting with vessels moored at Blackwall. Later extensions took the rails into the Isle of Dogs and, via Bow, to the east and northeast of London.

Leased by the Great Eastern Railway in 1866, it was later absorbed by the LNER until passenger services ceased in 1926. Final closure of the railway in 1968 was not the end of the line however, for the arrival of the Docklands Light Railway saw much of the route brought back into regular use.

'The London & Blackwall Railway - Docklands First Railway' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2013
ISBN: 9781445621722
Format: Softback, 96 pages
Size: 234 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Waterloo Station Through Time - Signed

The first Waterloo Station opened in 1848 and was originally owned by the London & South Western Railway and originally known as Waterloo Bridge Station. John Christopher tells the story of Waterloo from its early beginnings, when the LSWR extended its route from Nine Elms, to the present day. 

What's inside 'Waterloo Station Through Time'

The current building was completed in 1922 following a huge rebuilding programme started in 1899. Catering for suburban traffic, Waterloo is also the major station for trains to Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth and once served the famous boat trains. Close by was the London Necropolis Railway station, which took coffins to Brookwood Cemetery.

Eurostar trains and Waterloo Station

For a time, the station was the base for Eurostar trains and a new Crossrail project may see Waterloo connected with Euston. This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Waterloo Station has changed and developed over the years. It is now Britain's busiest and largest station.

Other London railway stations in this 'Through Time' series include Paddington Station, Victoria Station, King's Cross Station and Euston Station.

'Waterloo Station Through Time' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2015
ISBN: 9781445650852
Format: Softback 96 pages
Size: 235 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Kings Cross Station Through Time - Signed

King's Cross station, the terminus of the Great Northern Railway, opened in 1852. Designed by Lewis Cubitt, it replaced a temporary station at Maiden Lane and quickly established itself as the London terminus of what became known as the East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh.

The story 'King's Cross Station Through Time' is telling

Every weekday from 1862 onwards, the Flying Scotsman left King's Cross 10.00 a.m. for the north, initially taking over ten hours to complete the journey.

Some of Britain's most famous locomotives, from the Ivatt Atlantics to the A3 and A4 Pacifics, Deltics and HSTs, have sped north from King's Cross.

The underground station below the main line station encompasses six lines and was the scene of the disastrous King's Cross fire in 1987, following which it was rebuilt.

King's Cross has been redeveloped many times over the years, and the 9 3/4 fictional platform was made famous in the Harry Potter novels. Recent construction work has seen the refurbishment of the station itself and a major redevelopment of the surrounding area.

Other London railway stations in this 'Through Time' series include Paddington Station, Victoria Station, Waterloo Station and Euston Station.

'King's Cross Station Through Time' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2012
ISBN: 9781445605302
Format: Softback 96 pages
Size: 235 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Euston Station Through Time - Signed

Euston is one of London's busiest stations. Built as the London terminus of the London & Birmingham Railway in July 1837, Euston was London's first intercity railway station.

What's inside 'Euston Station Through Time'

Originally designed by Philip Hardwick, the station entrance was through the world's largest Doric propylaeum, which became known as the Euston Arch. In the 1840s the station was expanded greatly and by 1923 express trains left Euston regularly for Wales, Scotland and the major cities of England, including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

In the early 1960s the original station was demolished, to a huge outcry, and a new modernist structure replaced it. Join John Christopher on a journey through time, telling the story of Euston from 1837 to the present day area.

Other London railway stations in this 'Through Time' series include Paddington Station, Victoria Station, Waterloo Station and Kings Cross Station.

'Euston Station Through Time' in detail

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2012
ISBN: 9781445605296
Format: Softback 96 pages
Size: 235 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Through Time - Signed

IKB was Britain's greatest engineer. He was the man who built everything on a huge scale including Britain's biggest ship, some spectacular bridges, a tunnel under the Thames and the magnificent Great Western Railway from London to Bristol.

What's inside 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel Through Time'

Brunel left an unsurpassed legacy of industrial architecture and design, from the vaulted roof of Paddington station to the iron-hulled SS Great Britain, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge to the Tamar Bridge (which bears his name on its approaches).

His life was one of superlatives; bigger, wider, taller and faster. As the historian Dan Cruikshank put it, Brunel was quite simply 'a one-man Industrial Revolution'.

Here, John Christopher tells the story of the man and his tunnels, bridges, railways, ships and buildings, with many new illustrations accompanying the old, showing the changes time has made to Brunel's greatest legacy - the things he designed and built that we still take for granted and use every day, over a century and a half since his death.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Through Time - the details

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2010
ISBN: 9781848689633
Format: Softback 96 pages
Size: 235 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection

Brunel in London - Signed

Brunel and London might not seem an obvious association, but John Christopher puts the case that it was London, not Bristol, that was the most important centre of Brunel's activities.

Making the case for Brunel in London

It was here that he lived, worked and died. London is dotted with examples of his works, some obvious and some less so, from the subaquatic Thames Tunnel between Wapping to Rotherhithe where he cut his engineering teeth and was almost killed in a sudden deluge, to the Hungerford suspension bridge between Charing Cross and the South Bank - mostly forgotten but parts of it still exist - the two stations at Paddington serving the Great Western Railway main line running to the west and, of course, his final steamship, the vast Great Eastern built at Millwall, which marked the end of his career and his life.

Less familiar are Brunel's connections with the Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and the two towers he built when it was relocated to Sydenham in south London.

John Christopher, an acknowledged expert on Brunel, takes us on a tour of London, examining the relationship between city and engineer.

This is one in a series of books about rediscovering Brunel’s works in your area. See also Brunel in Gloucestershire, Brunel in Cornwall, and Brunel in Bristol.

Brunel in London - the details

Author: John Christopher (signed)
Publisher: Amberley Publishing 2014
ISBN: 9781445618555
Format: Softback 96 pages
Size: 235 x 165 mm
Condition: New

Part of the Droids Books Collection