The Railway King: A Biography of George Hudson, Railway Pioneer and Fraudster

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George Hudson - the eponymous Railway King - started his career with a stroke of luck, inheriting 27,000 (a fortune in 1827) from a distant relative. He invested successfully in the North Midland Railway, then formed his own Midland Railway, raising 5 million and bribing MPs along the way. But from his glory in 1845 he fell into disgrace, admitting corruption and selling land he did not own. He was eventually imprisoned in York Castle and died a broken man in 1871.

His story provides an excellent insight into nineteenth-century politics and industrial progress, full of moral dilemmas and a testimony to the growth of the railways in Britain - a timely subject.

Reviews

,wonderful new biography... highly readable' - The Sunday Telegraph

,... an amusing, gossipy and forthright account' - Daily Telegraph

,... tells Hudson's story with gusto and great confidence' - The Observer

A wonderful new biography...provides a balanced and highly readable view of Hudson's achievements and shortcomings - Sunday Telegraph

...a biography as pacy as its restless subject matter - Spectator

Author Bio

Robert Beaumont embarked on a career as a journalist while at Oxford University and continued for twenty years at the Yorkshire Evening Press where he was named Feature Writer of the Year four times in the Yorkshire Newspaper Society Awards. He lives near York with his wife and two children.