Isle Of Wight Author Features In Amazon Number One Railway Book

An Isle of Wight-based writer has contributed to a new book that’s gone straight to number one on Amazon’s Hot New Releases list.

The Untold Railway Stories, published this week by Duckworth Books and edited by Monisha Rajesh, is described as a “fresh, fascinating collection of new writing on train travel and railway history,” marking 200 years of passenger railways.

Among the contributors is Cowes-based author Mark Ovenden, who shares his lifelong love of railways in an essay titled Misadventures in Mapping.

Ovenden recalls being taken along abandoned tracks after the “Beeching Axe” closed many branch lines in the 1960s, and says he still walks the Island’s old disused railways today.

He also reflects on how a passion for maps and transit diagrams — including his own attempts to redraw Beck’s famous London Underground map as a Cowes High School pupil in the 1970s — eventually led to a career as a bestselling author.

His essay sits alongside pieces covering subjects such as Nazi transport trains, Syrian railways, how Ukrainians maintain tracks during wartime, and the role of Chinese investment in African networks.

Duckworth’s Commissioning Editor, Hannah McDonald, said:

“Mark’s other books have done well — he’s been in the Amazon Top 100 best-sellers before and praised by the New York Times — so we were keen to have his contribution to The Untold Railway Stories.”

The book also reveals how Ovenden once skipped tourist attractions on a school trip to Paris in favour of exploring the Metro, and how he later met some of his heroes — including New York Subway map designer Massimo Vignelli.

The Untold Railway Stories is available now.