Think of the Golden Age of Steam and one locomotive leaps to mind above all others: the Flying Scotsman, Nigel Gresley's elegant masterpiece, which broke the world speed record in 1934 and has enthralled millions with her beauty and power.  

If ever there was a steam locomotive with nine lives, it is Flying Scotsman. Rescued in the early sixties for preservation just in the nick of time as the rapid rundown of steam saw a sad procession of locomotives to the scrapyard, she has gone through a succession of owners who have taken her across the United States, to Alice Springs at the heart of Australia, even had her hauling the Orient Express. She was nearly abandoned in San Francisco when her American tour ended in bankruptcy, and in 2004 was rescued for the nation at the eleventh hour by the National Railway Museum after an urgent appeal raised millions. Now she is being extensively overhauled again so that she may once again steam out onto the main line.

Now, Andrew Roden tells the remarkable story of this magnificent locomotive, from her glory days between the wars to her rollercoaster life as a preserved engine. He has talked to those who have owned her and cheered from the trackside as she thundered past, and has discovered extraordinary stories about her - like the time when her whole career nearly came to an explosive and tragic end on the Leicester main  line thanks to fish in her tender...

The Spitfire of our railways, a classic feat of engineering, a national treasure: Flying Scotsman is a living legend for everyone to celebrate.