First published in 2019

1 The 14:31 to Paris -- 2 A small world -- 3 From Hutongs to Hanoi -- 4 The death railway -- 5 Bombs and bullet trains -- 6 No vacancy -- 7 Hail to the Southwest Chief -- 8 Keeping up with the Kims -- 9 Night train to Beijing -- 10 Ghost cities and the Great Wall -- 11 Viva Lhasa Vegas! -- 12 The old Silk Road -- 13 Azamat and Marzhan -- 14 Homeward bound -- 15 The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express -- Acknowledgements

When Monisha Rajesh announced plans to circumnavigate the globe in 80 train journeys, she was met with wide-eyed disbelief. But it wasn't long before she was carefully plotting a route that would cover 45,000 miles - almost twice the circumference of the earth - coasting along the world's most remarkable railways, from the cloud-skimming heights of Tibet's Qinghai railway to silk-sheeted splendour on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Packing up her rucksack - and her fiancé, Jem - Monisha embarks on an unforgettable seven-month-long adventure that will take her from London's St Pancras station to the vast expanses of Russia and Mongolia, North Korea, Canada, Kazakhstan, and beyond