[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars I read John Wade's Britain in the 1950s for research purposes for a project I'm working on. I really enjoyed it. This book is informative, without being stuffy, well-written and to the point. I like the fun fact sections that head up each chapter and I also like the author explaining how certain things worked, like radios, and buses (including the role of conductors, passengers, etc). All of these little details help me to imagine what it was like to live in 1950s Britain. Overall, I highly recommend reading this.
NetGalley, Stacey Thomas

First published in 2014 in the last days of Ian Allan, this 96 page all-colour paperback is fully deserving of a second outing, as it brings together an excellent range of material at the very reasonable price of £14.99. Trains, trams, buses and coaches are here in abundance, and the sheer variety of what could be seen in daily traffic during the 1950s and 1960s will come as a revelation to those more used to the standardised fleets of the 21st century. The first 25 pages are devoted to railways, and the early Underground rolling stock with their clerestory roofs and the brown-painted panelled compartment stock of the Metropolitan Line will fascinate many readers and bring back fond memories for others. This reviewer has a particularly soft spot for LT’s fleet of named Bo-Bo electric locos used on the Metropolitan Line, and here we see number 6 ‘William Penn’ of that fleet still in wartime grey livery in 1955. As one would expect, the bus section includes trolleybuses and a full.. Read more
West Somerset Railway Association

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Dr Alexander Clarke

Having lived in Luton for my first 20 years until the mid-1970s this book was a must to read. It deals in great depth with the development of bus services in Luton and out to the distant parts of Bedfordshire, London and Hertfordshire. It is well illustrated with many photographs of the buses and coaches from the earliest days to the present day that will delight enthusiasts, especially as they are beautifully printed on gloss paper. The author has achieved a magnificent job in his research as the story is one of bewildering company changes, takeovers, route changes and route numbering changes often in quick succession. The users of the bus services must have been thoroughly confused at times! Overall, an interesting read that contributes to the history of one of our towns.
Nigel Denchfield

This book is in the same format as two other books previously reviewed in the Wessex Review which were co-authored by Martin Jenkins, and just like those, this one is superb. It will be a ‘must’ for any enthusiast who actually witnessed the final years of Glasgow’s huge tram system, and for those who didn’t but have an interest in trams, transport and bygone streetscapes. The book was commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the closure of the system in 1962, and covers the years from 1947. Each year forms a chapter with a map showing the extent of the system in that year. Changes are recorded, which in the latter years are mostly route closures. In 1949 two extensions were opened, but that year marked the beginning of the end with some important sections converted to trolleybus operation. Unlike many pictorial books whose captions do little more than describe what can be seen in the picture, these captions add vital information to the story and usefully back up the sections.. Read more
Andy Wood