{"product_id":"the-history-of-british-bus-services-9780715389621","title":"The History of British Bus Services","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRevised \u0026amp; enlarged edition\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe first edition of this book, when it appeared in 1968, was immediately recognised as the definitive work on the history of British bus and coach operation. Professor Hibbs set out to write it then so as to satisfy his curiosity about the way the industry had grown up, and in this new edition he has continued to seek answers to the question in his own words - why did things happen as they did?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe bus industry is going through a period of rapid change, and this is best understood against the background of events, for decisions taken as long ago as 1916 still influence its structure, and the way busmen think about their function. There are many strands to the story, the longest taking us back to the appearance of the hackney carriage and the stage coach in the seventeenth century. There are the combine companies of the inter-war years, and their battle with the four main line railways for control of their services; there are the 'pirates', old and new; and there are the municipal transport fleets, stemming usually from tramway operations. We have to go to nineteenth century France for the origin of the name 'omnibus' itself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eProfessor Hibbs discusses the effect of technical advances on the provision of public services, and writes of ticket systems, time-tables, fleet names and liveries, and some of the odder regulations that govern operators and the travelling public. There is an objective discussion of methods of licensing and control, and of the economic and political background of the bus operators. But this is the story of men and women as well as motor vehicles; of shrewd pioneers, international financiers, trade unionists and well-known politicians. Not least it is the story of the crews on the buses, for whom the industry is not just a living, but a way of life as well.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe book is fully illustrated, and the maps and charts illustrate the story as much as the photographs. It has been brought up to date with a series of amendments and an entire new chapter, bringing the story from 1968 to 1988.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAn accomplished and penetrating study of an industry that too many people take for granted, it will delight all students of transport, and rank high in the literature concerning public services in the British Isles.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardback with dust jacket, 14x22cm, 306 pages, black \u0026amp; white photographs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition: Good\/Very Good\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David \u0026 Charles","offers":[{"title":"Secondhand (246)","offer_id":58429872931199,"sku":"9780715389621","price":6.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1910\/7111\/files\/9780715389621.jpg?v=1789416303","url":"https:\/\/rail-books.co.uk\/products\/the-history-of-british-bus-services-9780715389621","provider":"Rail Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}