Located mainly across Portsea Island on the south coast, the city of Portsmouth is best known for its maritime heritage and association with the Royal Navy. Its strategic location presented obvious importance in wartime, which saw Admiral Lord Nelson sailing from the harbour to his victory at Trafalgar and his doom. Today it is still a busy port, but the ships that set sail are for tourism, business and friendship, not war. In this book, authors R. J. Cook & K. C. Close provide a fascinating visual chronicle of how much the city has changed across the last century. Using sepia, black-and-white and colour photographs they show how the city expanded and developed across the decades. Readers will glimpse lost and forgotten scenes from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, through both world wars and right up to more recent times. In addition to the streets, buildings and industries, together with the naval and military connections, the book offers a fascinating record of the people of the city and their constantly changing way of life. Lost Portsmouth is an engrossing look back in time that will appeal to residents, visitors and all those with links to the city.

The railway route between Oxford and Cambridge – nicknamed the Varsity Line – was opened in stages in the nineteenth century. Running roughly east to west, it crossed several major trunk routes linking London with the North and Midlands, and became part of the LMS in 1923 Railway Grouping. Its strategic value was recognised during the Second World War as it allowed freight traffic to avoid London and several new connections to the line were built. Despite post-war plans to develop the line further, parts of the line were closed by BR in the 1960s. Since then, rising demand on the railways in general and recognition of the value of this through route have resulted in sections being reopened and a new company, East West Rail, has been founded to re-establish the entire line by 2030, linking Oxford, Bicester, Bletchley/Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge, and also acting as a potential feeder route for HS2. This book surveys the history of this route and its operations, and looks at the campaign and plans to open it again, analysing both the benefits and downsides of such a large rail project today.