Top

We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.

The Railway King

On sale

10th November 2016

Price: £6.99

Selected:  ebook / ISBN-13: 9781472246530

Disclosure: If you buy products using the retailer buttons above, we may earn a commission from the retailers you visit.

George Hudson – the eponymous Railway King – started his career with a stroke of luck, inheriting £27,000 (a fortune in 1827) from a distant relative. He invested successfully in the North Midland Railway, then formed his own Midland Railway, raising £5 million and bribing MPs along the way. But from his glory in 1845 he fell into disgrace, admitting corruption and selling land he did not own. He was eventually imprisoned in York Castle and died a broken man in 1871.

His story provides an excellent insight into nineteenth-century politics and industrial progress, full of moral dilemmas and a testimony to the growth of the railways in Britain – a timely subject.

What's Inside

Read More Read Less