Very few diaries of directors and senior managers of the Big Four
railways have survived to enter the public domain. There are,
however, two notable Southern Railway diarists whose records have
been available in archives for some years, but have been largely
ignored by historians; Southern Railway General Manager Gilbert
Szlumper and Director Leopold Amery. Their remarkable diaries are
addressed in this insightful book, which gives a slightly different
view of the company in contrast to the almost sanitised histories
by some writers. The surviving diaries of Szlumper are far from
complete. They begin in 1936 and continue into the war years, but
there are several gaps. Throughout, Szlumper comments on
individuals and developments, revealing little-known facts and the
circumstances that meant he could never truly achieve his
potential. Formally retiring in 1942, he died in 1969, after which
his diaries entered the public domain. Leopold Amery was director
of the Southern Railway from 1932. A Birmingham Member of
Parliament for many years, he was a statesman of some stature, his
high offices including Secretary of State for the Colonies in the
1920s. In his autobiography, Amery writes very little on the
railway, although he does comment on its family atmosphere. His
diaries, which are in the public domain in a Cambridge University
archive, have been published in two volumes but Amerys fascinating
business activities were omitted by the publisher, and like
Szlumper he comments on individuals and developments. The diary
information of these two exceptional men has been supplemented by
information from the railway, state archives and other sources, and
many of the photographs have never been published before.
General
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