As anguished Southern commuters will testify, the golden age of rail travel has long gone. But as this delightful book amply proves, nostalgia for the nights when gleaming metal monsters shuffling gouts of steam roared across Europe has long outlived the reality and is still a growth industry. Andrew Martin, the son of a railwayman, experienced a journey on a sleeper train with his sister and dad as a child. His book charmingly combines his own travels, as herecreates journeys on famous trains such as the Orient Express, with a serious, occasionally geeky, history of those elegant wagons lits of the past, the settings for numerous brief encounters, espionage exchanges and, thanks to Agatha Christie, ingenious fictional murders. Even if you’re not into the detail of rail gauges, this book is the perfect companion as you wait for the 8.10 from Hove.

• Night Trains by Andrew Martin is published by Profile (£14.99). To order a copy for £12 go to bookshop.theguardian.comor call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99