The comfortable middle-class Edwardian life of Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis is shattered when their father is arrested for treason. Forced to leave London for the country, they discover a railway line near their home, befriending the stationmaster and his family, the owner of the railway, and a Russian dissident in the course of their adventures, which culminate in a dramatic reunion. Described as `the first modern writer for children', Edith Nesbit here confirms her status with this skilful blend of humour, pathos, and vivid insight into the behaviour of her characters. This version is based upon the text of the sixth edition, with the significant variations from the first edition recorded in the explanatory notes. This book is intended for students and teachers in colleges of higher education, students of children's literature, parents, children, general.
This book is part of a book series called Worlds Classics .
There are 223 pages in this book. This book was published 1991 by Oxford University Press .
Edith Nesbit was an English author and poet who published over 60 books of fiction for children under her pen name E. Nesbit.
This book contains the following story:
The Railway Children
Bobby, Peter and Phyllis live in a lovely house in a posh bit of London. Then one day their father is taken away to prison uner suspicion of treason. The children are not told why. The house is sold, the servants dispersed and with their mother the children go to live in a tiny cottage in the country. Every day the children go down to the railway line and wave at the passing train, and every day an old gentleman waves back. Bobby decides they should write to the gentleman on the train and ask him to help get their father back. Time passes but nothing seems to happen, until one day father returns. And the children learn that it was the gentleman from the train that had helped secure his release.
