Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} - The Original Classic Edition by E. Nesbit E Nesbit's classic The Railway Children accused of 'plagiarism' It is arguably the single most memorable episode of E Nesbit's much-loved children's book The Railway Children. The three children, Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis, playing close to the railway line, witness a landslide on to the tracks, and bravely save a train from crashing into it by waving warning flags made from the girls' red flannel petticoats. And when they succeed in stopping the train – in the nick of time – Bobbie falls down in a dead faint. But it has now emerged that the dramatic episode may not have been purely the result of Nesbit's imagination. Another children's book – published in 1896, nine years before The Railway Children appeared – includes an episode seemingly too similar for coincidence alone. In The House by the Railway by little-known writer Ada J Graves, middle-class children from the suburbs move to the countryside with their mother, just as Bobbie and her siblings do, and save a train from crashing into an obstacle on the line by waving a red jacket to halt it in its tracks. And, just as in The Railway Children (as seen on our TV screens each Christmas in the classic 1970 film), they are presented with engraved watches as a reward for their courage. Other similarities connect the two novels. Both books include an episode in which someone the children befriend on a passing train turns out to have a connection to somebody else in their story, and both end with an emotional family reunion. However, the particularly heart-wringing theme of The Railway Children, in which the children's father is absent because he has been wrongly imprisoned for spying, only to be dramatically freed at the end of the novel, is Nesbit's alone. Ada Graves's 64-year-old granddaughter Anne Hall-Williams, who found a copy of The House by the Railway in her late father's house, is convinced that the pivotal near-crash scene was "lifted" by Nesbit from her grandmother's book. "It is quite blatant really, the plagiarism," she says. "It is pretty obvious that Nesbit had read the earlier book. I realise that lots of authors operate in this way, but it seems a bit naughty of her. Poor Ada deserves a bit of credit." However, Kate Agnew of the Children's Bookshop, Muswell Hill, north London, was sceptical about the connection. "There was a huge sweep of railways spreading across Britain from the 1830s and it had a profound effect on the whole country, so it was inevitable that there would be children's fiction about railways," she says. "And it's a classic trope of children's adventure that the children do something crucial that saves the day. In a book about railways, that's likely to be something to do with saving a train, and red has always been the colour of danger. I don't think it's enough of a coincidence to be certain." Nesbit, born in 1858, wrote about 40 children's books in all, and had already published many of the books that would become classics – including The Wouldbegoods, Five Children and It and the Phoenix and the Carpet – by the time The Railway Children appeared in 1906. She was also a writer and lecturer on socialism, co-founding the Fabian Society alongside her husband Hubert Bland – although thanks to Bland's philandering and her own penchant for relationships with younger men, her own family life was far from the cosy ideal often presented in her novels. Agnew says Nesbit's books remain very popular with today's young readers. "She has very contemporary heroes and heroines, though they have a strong Victorian sense of duty," she says. "They have very realistic adventures, even when they are magical ones – you enter the world of magic from a shop in Kensington, for example – and children love that." ISBN 13: 9780192744456. The Railway Children (Oxford Children's Classics) Nesbit, E. This specific ISBN edition is currently not available. Family! Friendship! Adventure! Mystery! Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis have their lives turned upside down when their father mysteriously has to go away. The railway becomes the centre of their new life, but little do they know what wonders and changes it will bring to them - maybe even the answer to Father's disappearance . . . Oxford Children's Classics present not only the original and unabridged story of The Railway Children in a beautiful new edition, but also help you to discover a whole world of new adventures with a vast assortment of recommendations and activities. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. E. Nesbit was born in London in 1858. Her father died when she was four years old and she spent much of her childhood travelling around England, France, Germany, and Spain with her mother and sister Mary, in an attempt to cure Mary of tuberculosis. Elizabeth married Hubert Bland in 1880 and they went on to become two of the founding members of the Fabian Society. She wrote many stories and poems for both children and adults, including the much-loved Five Children and It , The Story of the Treasure Seekers , and The Railway Children . Elizabeth Nesbit died in 1924 and is buried in Kent. Edith Nesbit is endlessly surprising and inventive . . . She is also simply the funniest writer we have ever had, while being the one who could most easily and sweetly break your heart with a phrase. 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The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography credits Oswald Barron, who had a deep affection for Nesbit, with having provided the plot. Contents. 1 Plot summary 2 Adaptations 2.1 BBC radio dramatisation 2.2 BBC television series 2.3 Film 2.4 2000 version 2.5 Stage versions. Plot summary. The story concerns a family who move to "Three Chimneys", a house near the railway, after the father, who works at the Foreign office, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying. The children befriend an Old Gentleman who regularly takes the 9:15 train near their home; he is eventually able to help prove their father's innocence, and the family is reunited. The family take care of a Russian exile, Mr Szczepansky, who came to England looking for his family (later located) and Jim, the grandson of the Old Gentleman, who suffers a broken leg in a tunnel. The theme of an innocent man being falsely imprisoned for espionage and finally vindicated might have been influenced by the Dreyfus Affair, which was a prominent worldwide news item a few years before the book was written. The Russian exile, persecuted by the Tsars for writing "a beautiful book about poor people and how to help them" and subsequently helped by the children, was most likely an amalgam of the real-life dissidents Sergius Stepniak and Peter Kropotkin who were both friends of the author. [1] Adaptations. The story has been adapted for the screen six times to date, including four television series, a feature film, and a made-for-television film. BBC radio dramatisation. E. Nesbit's perennial favourite was adapted for radio by Marcy Kahan and produced by John Taylor. It stars Paul Copley, Timothy Bateson and Victoria Carling and was first heard in 1991. The play is available on CD. BBC television series. The story was adapted as a television series four times by the BBC. The first of these, in 1951, was in 8 episodes of 30 minutes each. A second adaptation was then produced, which re-used some of the film from the original series but also contained new material with slight cast changes. This had 4 episodes of 60 minutes each. The BBC again revisited the story with an 8-episode series in 1957 and a 7-episode series in 1968. The 1968 adaptation was placed 96th in the BFI's 100 Greatest British Television Programmes poll of 2000. It starred Jenny Agutter as Roberta and Gillian Bailey as Phyllis. Of all the TV adaptations, only the 1968 version is known to be extant (it is currently available on DVD); the rest may be lost. After the successful BBC dramatisation of 1968, the film rights were bought by the actor Lionel Jeffries, who wrote and directed the film, released in 1970. Jenny Agutter and Dinah Sheridan starred in the film. The music was composed, arranged and conducted by Johnny Douglas. 2000 version. In October 1999, ITV made a new adaptation, as a made-for-television film. This time Jenny Agutter played the role of the mother. Others in the movie include Jemima Rooper, Jack Blumenau and JJ Feild. The railway filmed was the Bluebell Railway using some of the Railway's steam engines and rolling stock and NBR C Class 0–6–0 "Maude", from the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. Cast 1951 (BBC) 1957 (BBC) 1968 (BBC) 1970 (film) 2000 (Carlton Television) Mother Jean Anderson Jean Anderson Ann Castle Dinah Sheridan Jenny Agutter Father John Stuart John Richmond Frederick Treves Iain Cuthbertson Michael Kitchen Roberta Marion Chapman Anneke Wills Jenny Agutter Jenny Agutter Jemima Rooper Phyllis Carole Lorimer Sandra Michaels Gillian Bailey Sally Thomsett Clare Thomas Peter Michael Croudson Cavan Kendall Neil McDermott Gary Warren Jack Blumenau Perks Michael Harding Richard Warner Gordon Gostelow Bernard Cribbins Gregor Fisher Old Gentleman DA Clarke-Smith Norman Shelley Joseph O'Conor William Mervyn Richard Attenborough Dr Forrest John Le Mesurier John Stuart John Ringham Peter Bromilow David Bamber. Stage versions. In 2005 the stage musical was first presented at Sevenoaks Playhouse in Kent, UK, with a cast including Are You Being Served star Nicholas Smith as the Old Gentleman, Paul Henry from Crossroads as Perks and West End star Susannah Fellows as Mother. Music is by Richard John and book and lyrics by Julian Woolford. The score was recorded by TER/JAY records and the musical is published by Samuel French Ltd. A new stage adaptation written by Mike Kenny and directed by Damian Cruden was staged in 2008 and 2009 at the National Railway Museum, York. The adaptation starred Sarah Quintrell, Colin Tarrant and Marshall Lancaster (2008 only), and featured a Stirling Single steam locomotive (GNR 4–2–2 No.1) which, while not actually in steam, entered the stage on the tracks originally leading into the York Goods Station, in which the 'Station Hall' section of the museum is now situated. The stage was constructed inside the large tent outside the Goods Station, which is usually reserved for some of the working locomotives of the museum. The project was set up by York Theatre Royal, and involved its younger members (Youth theatre) in the production. [2] [3] This adaptation then transferred for two seasons to two disused platforms at Waterloo International railway station. [4] The amateur rights now allow local amateur companies across the UK to produce the play. A Toronto production in 2011 was staged at Roundhouse Park, home of John Street Roundhouse National Historic Site [5] by Mirvish Productions. A temporary 1,000 seat theatre was built at the base of the CN Tower, around the railway tracks—with the audience seated on either side—and it “starred” a 66-ton vintage steam locomotive! The production at Waterloo won an Olivier Award for best Entertainment in 2011. [6] In 2011, Nesbit was accused of lifting the plot of the book from The House by the Railway by Ada J. Graves, a book first published in 1896 and serialised in a popular magazine in 1904, a year before The Railway Children first appeared. [7] In both works the children's adventures bear remarkable similarities. At the climax Nesbit's characters use red petticoats to stop the train whilst Graves has them using a red jacket. [8] The stage adaptation, produced by the National Railway Museum and York Theatre Royal, reopened in December 2014 in a new theatre behind London's Kings Cross station. [9] In popular culture. A 200-metre footpath [10] in Lee, Greater London is named Railway Children Walk to commemorate Nesbit's novel of the same name. The short walkway connects Lee High Road to Grove Park, a nearby public park. [11] A similar path is also located in Oxenhope. [12] References. ^ Guardian article: How did come to write The Railway Children? ^ York Theatre Royal production ^ British Theatre Guide review ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ External links. The Railway Children at Project Gutenberg HTML text at Indiana Free audiobook from LibriVox 1957 TV series at the Internet Movie Database 1968 TV film at the Internet Movie Database 1970 film at the Internet Movie Database 2000 TV film at the Internet Movie Database British Film Institute Screen Online (1968 series) Railway Children Musical. Five Children and It (1902) The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) The Story of the Amulet (1905) The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1899) The Railway Children (1906) The Enchanted Castle (1907) The House of Arden (1908) The Magic City (1910) The Railway Children (1970) Onegai! Samia-don (1985-86) The Treasure Seekers (1996) The Railway Children (2000) Five Children and It (2004) Shockheaded Peter (2002) Play Without Words (2003) Duckie’s C'est Barbican! (2004) Something Wicked This Way Comes (2006) La Clique (2009) (2010) The Railway Children (2011) - Svengali (2012) Goodnight Mister Tom (2013) (2014) La Soirée (2015) Complete list () () EngvarB from September 2013 Use dmy dates from September 2013 1906 novels British children's novels Children's books about rail transport Novels by E. Nesbit English novels Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in The London Magazine Novels set in England Novels set in the 1900s Plagiarism controversies. Help improve this article. About Us Privacy Policy Contact Us. Copyright © World Library Foundation. All rights reserved. eBooks from Project Gutenberg are sponsored by the World Library Foundation, a 501c(4) Member's Support Non-Profit Organization, and is NOT affiliated with any governmental agency or department. ‘The Railway Children,’ All-Time U.K. Children’s Classic, Gets Sequel From Studiocanal. “The Railway Children Return” will shoot in locations around the U.K. from the original 1970 film, including Oakworth Station, Haworth and The Bronte Parsonage. The iconic Keighley & Worth Valley Railway from the original film will also feature. BAFTA and Emmy-winning actor Jenny Agutter will resume her role from the original “Railway Children.” BAFTA-winning Sheridan Smith; Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Tom Courtenay; and a new generation of Railway Children will star alongside. Based on a celebrated novel by E. Nesbit, the original film follows three children, who, after the enforced absence of their father, move with their mother to Yorkshire where they attempt to discover the reason for his disappearance. “The Railway Children Return” follows a group of children who are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during WWII, where they encounter a young soldier who, like them, is far from home. The sequel is written by BAFTA nominee Danny Brocklehurst (“Brassic”), and produced by BAFTA-winning Jemma Rodgers (“Double Take”) for Studiocanal. The studio has set a release date of April 1, 2022. “The Railway Children,” which was nominated for two BAFTAs, is a key title in Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics collection, which features some of the classics of British cinema. The restored Blu-ray and DVD release of the film includes a retrospective documentary and interviews with key cast Jenny Agutter, Bernard Cribbins and Sally Thomsett. Nesbit’s novel, published in 1906, has been adapted for the screen several times, but the 1970 version by Lionel Jeffries remains the most enduringly popular.