A lively history of the seaside holiday by train from Britain's 'Bard of the Buffer'

'A feast of anecdotage' Sunday Times 'Andrew Martin is a railway wizard' Telegraph Throughout the twentieth century, the seaside service posters of Britain's railways promised fresh air and frivolity to millions of urban dwellers with the phrase: 'To the sea by train'. A staple of modern British life, the seaside getaway was intertwined with the train, in whose compartments holidaymakers were shunted from smog-choked cities to sandy coves. With his signature wit and anecdotal style, Andrew Martin captures an era defined by its railways: from the development of Brighton and Scarborough into pleasure resorts, and the introduction of bank holidays and two-day weekends, to the advent of cheap flights and the British coast's subsequent decline. Humorous and evocative, To the Sea by Train takes a charming tour through Britain's most beloved pastime.

"Martin's whimsical little book, a feast of anecdotage, represents a memorial to the past that was not always an idyll" - Sunday Times

"Charming and unashamedly trainspotterish ... To spread joy about what's left, [Martin] travels on lines to the coast that remain open, evoking his journeys in infectiously enthusiastic detail" - Spectator

"Martin... has a nudgingly humorous style, occasionally breaking out into the outright comedic, and a novelist's ear for dialogue. Facts are lightly applied, the quirkier the better. [His] account of travelling through Euston and Birmingham New Street and on to the Cambrian Coast Line to Pwllheli is a standalone classic of observational comedy - I couldn't stop laughing." - Country Life

"Praise for Andrew Martin: 'Andrew Martin is the railway wizard" - Telegraph

"Andrew Martin has cornered the train market. He is the Bard of the Buffer, the Balladeer of the Blue Train, the Laureate of Lost Property ... the best sort of travel-writer: inquisitive, knowledgeable, lively, congenial" - Mail on Sunday

"Martin is entertaining company, alive to the history of his route ... Leaves you with renewed confidence that trains can still be the most civilised way to travel" - Financial Times