Behind the Crumbling Edge
A View of the Nationalised Railway

By Stephen Poole
May 2002
The Book Guild Ltd.
ISBN: 1-85776-610-5
352 pages, illustrated
$38.50 hardcover

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Stephen Poole describes himself as an "outsider on the inside" of British Rail. He worked for the Southern, London, Midland, and Western regions of BR as well as for Railfreight, Intercity and Network SouthEast in a twenty year career. This gave him insight into the internal complexities of the nationalized railway in its last two decades. Despite occasional rivalries, there was a shared sense of purpose and pride among railway workers. However, there was no room for such sentiments in the run up to privatization. Behind the Crumbling Edge looks at the reality of working in a struggling industry at a time of great upheaval. This finely researched book is a whistle-blowing warning about how political expediency and dogma ruined a once viable system.

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