Hi fodorites,

Whenever I go away I try to read literature based on or at my destination, for example when I went to Sardinia I packed Sea and Sardinia by DH Lawrence. I find that reading these books when travelling through a place really brings them to life.

A friend just wrote a blog post for me ( http://loco2.com/blog/2012/06/great-...s-train-books/ ) on rail journeys inspired by novels and it got me thinking there must be lots of books featuring trains/railways that I am not familiar with.

I wondered whether there are any other books featuring trains or train journeys that you know of that you can recommend? I tagged this with some destinations but really I'm thinking Europe wide.

Paul Theroux' Great Railway Bazaar tracks his train trip from Great Britain thru Europe to Asia. And not literature but if you want to read some neat stuff about European trains check out www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com - lots of great info be and descriptions of various scenic trains, etc.

Loco2,

My suggestion: PARIS TO THE PAST: TRAVELING THROUGH FRENCH HISTORY BY TRAIN by Ina Caro. She and her husband the historian Robert Caro are real Francophiles. This book gives suggestions for day trips (mostly) from Paris to quaint towns, cathedrals, chateaux, and historical sites not far from the city.

She also suggests some upscale spots for lunch at these destinations. Enjoy.

How "serious" do you want to be? Agatha Christie catered for the train-journeying market with Murder on the Orient Express, and I think there was one based on the Train Bleu; and there's always The Lady Vanishes.

You might be interested in this story from the Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010...-in-literature

I think one of the posters on this board did a rail journey through Europe and Asia. Do a search for reports by thursdaysd.

From the original post:
"...there must be lots of books featuring trains/railways that I am not familiar with."

That is quite possibly true. So how about your starting by telling us which books you are already familiar with? Otherwise this is just a futile exercise in guesswork.

Thanks guys! PalenQ I bloody love Paul Theroux definitely will check it out.

latedaytraveler, that looks awesome - I am building a list and I don't have many on the non-fiction front, keep them coming. Ditto adrienne, that rundown is great.

PatrickLondon, I read almost constantly and sometimes I'm up for something heavy going and sometimes just want a light read, open to all suggestions, the more the merrier.

And TonyBishop, assume ignorance besides the 4 mentioned in the link in my original post!

I travel by train a lot and do my best reading then!