1
of
1
The People's Train
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 207 ratings, 26 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2700
$2999
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
The People's Train
$2700
$2999
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Artem Samsurov reaches sanctuary in Australia after escaping his Siberian labour camp and making a perilous journey via Japan. But Brisbane in 1911 turns out not to be the workers' paradise he was expecting, or the bickering local Russian emigres a model of brotherhood. When the revolution dawns and he returns to Russia, will his ideals hold true?
'Thomas Keneally is one of the historical novel's most expert practitioners, and his new book sees him back on the form that produced Schindler's Ark. Giles Foden, Guardian
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Artem Samsurov, a charismatic protégé of Lenin and an ardent socialist, reaches sanctuary in Australia after escaping his Siberian labour camp and making a long, perilous journey via Japan. But Brisbane in 1911 turns out not to be quite the workers' paradise he was expecting, or the bickering local Russian émigrés a model of brotherhood.
As Artem helps organise a strike and gets dangerously entangled in the death of another exile, he discovers that corruption, repression, and injustice are almost as prevalent in Brisbane as at home. Yet he finds fellow spirits in a fiery old suffragette and a distractingly attractive married woman, who undermines his belief that a revolutionary cannot spare the time for relationships.
When the revolution dawns and he returns to Russia, will his ideals hold true? Based on a true story, The People's Train brings the past alive and makes it resonate in the present. Tom Keneally takes us to the heart of the Russian Revolution through the dramatic life of an unknown, inspiring figure.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781741667455
Publisher: Random House Australia
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 July 2010
Country: Australia
Imprint: Vintage (Australia)
Edition: 3rd edition
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 27.0mm
Width: 127.0mm
Height: 194.0mm
Weight: 326g
Pages: 416
Collections
About the Author
Thomas Keneally won the Booker Prize in 1982 with Schindler's Ark, later made into the Academy Award-winning film Schindler's List. He has written ten works of non-fiction, including his recent memoir Searching for Schindler, and the histories The Commonwealth of Thieves, The Great Shame and American Scoundrel, and 28 works of fiction, including The Widow and Her Hero (shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award), An Angel in Australia and Bettany's Book. His novels The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Gossip from the Forest, and Confederates were all shortlisted for the Booker Prize, while Bring Larks and Heroes and Three Cheers for the Paraclete won the Miles Franklin Award.
Also by Tom Keneally
View all-
The Commonwealth Of Thieves
A brilliant recreation of the first four years of white settlement in Australia by Booker Prize-winning author Tom Keneally. In 1787, Britain banished its unwanted citizens—uneducated petty thieves, streetwalkers, orphan chimney-sweeps, and dashing highwaymen—to the fringes of the known world. So remote was Botany Bay, the destination to which the overcrowded, disease-ridden convict ships were bound, that only one European...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Ink Stain
The Ink Stain by Meg Keneally and Tom Keneally takes readers on a gripping journey as Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney are dispatched to Sydney to investigate corruption that threatens the very core of the colony's fundamental rights, including freedom of speech, potentially implicating the governor's office. Henry Hallward, the determined editor of the Sydney Chronicle, is no stranger to imprisonment...Paperback$3400Elsewhere:$3700Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Daughters of Mars
'A masterpiece.' A.N. WILSON In the tradition of Atonement and Birdsong, The Daughters of Mars follows the Durance sisters as they leave Australia to nurse on the front during WWI and discover a world beyond their imaginings. Inspired by the journals of Australian nurses who gave their all to the Great War effort and the men they nursed, The Daughters...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Crimes of the Father
A timely, courageous and powerful novel about faith, the church, conscience and celibacy. Tom Keneally, ex-seminarian, pulls no punches as he interrogates the terrible damage done to innocents as the Catholic Church has prevaricated around language and points of law, covering up for its own. Ex-communicated to Canada due to his radical preaching on the Vietnam War and other human...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Shame and the Captives
If the legendary Schindler's List was not enough to showcase Thomas Keneally's literary mastery, then Shame and the Captives surely will. NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Will keeping the Japanese, Korean, and Italian POWs of the Second World War alive in Australia keep Australian POWs alive and well wherever they are? Tom Keneally brilliantly explores the intimacies of ordinary lives being...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Dickens Boy
From the Booker-winning author of Schindler's Ark, a compelling and spirited novel about Charles Dickens' son and his little-known adventures in the Australian Outback. In the late 1800s, rather than run the risk of your under-achieving children tarnishing your reputation at home, you sent them to the colonies. At least that is what Charles Dickens did with two of his...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Bring Larks and Heroes: Text Classics
At the world's end, it is Sunday afternoon in February. Through the edge of the forest a soldier moves without any idea he's caught in a mesh of sunlight and shade. Corporal Halloran's this fellow's name. He's a lean boy taking long strides through the Sabbath heat. A South Pacific penal colony in the late eighteenth century. An honest man...Paperback$1799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Corporal Hitler’s Pistol
Winner of the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize. How did Corporal Hitler's Luger from the First World War end up being the weapon that killed an IRA turncoat in Kempsey, New South Wales, in 1933? When an affluent Kempsey matron spots a young Aboriginal boy who bears an uncanny resemblance to her husband, not only does she scream for divorce,...Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Napoleon's Last Island
Whilst living in exile on St Helena, Napoleon exerted an extraordinary influence on young Betsy Balcombe. How did she get from Napoleon's side to the Australian bush? When Tom Keneally discovered by chance at the National Gallery of Victoria that Betsy Balcombe, a young girl living on St Helena while the Emperor Napoleon was exiled there, had become the Emperor's...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Power Game
Being the skipper of the cutter that carries all supplies and communications between Tasmania and Maria Island is a powerful position, and a deadly one. When a boatman is murdered on a remote island off Van Dieman's Land, the authorities want to blame a famous, and very inconvenient, political prisoner. But the victim's history of blackmail prompts Monsarrat to look...Paperback$2800Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Soldier's Curse
In the Port Macquarie penal settlement for second offenders, at the edge of the known world, gentleman convict Hugh Monsarrat hungers for freedom. Originally transported for forging documents and passing himself off as a lawyer, he is now the trusted clerk of the settlement's commandant. His position has certain advantages, such as being able to spend time in the Government...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Fanatic Heart
You don't need me to tell you Keneally is a brilliant storyteller, but with Fanatic Heart he proves it once again. ARTS HUB 'The novel's resonance for our time is deafening.' THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD A retelling of the life and exploits of Irish patriot John Mitchel, with a particular focus on his time in exile on Van Diemen's Land....Paperback$2800Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
More from General Fiction
View all-
The Wedding People
'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Theo of Golden
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...Paperback$2899Elsewhere:$3499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseOn Mystic Lake
One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...Paperback$3100Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseLand
Inspired by the mapping of Ireland in the mid nineteenth century, Land, the new novel from the author of Hamnet, is at once intimate and epic: a portrait of a family navigating a legacy of upheaval and loss with love and hope. On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseYesteryear
A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE — Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE — Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE — Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS — Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale — Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set
The Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set by Brandon Sanderson is a landmark fantasy series that has captivated readers worldwide. Renowned for its innovative magic system, intricate world-building, and compelling characters, this trilogy is a must-have for any fantasy enthusiast. Immerse yourself in a world shrouded in ash, where a once-hopeful land is ruled by the tyrannical Dark Lord, known as the...Set$6800Elsewhere:$7500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Deal
Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Deal now for the perfect fake-dating romance! She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy . . . Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Signed BookplateNew ReleaseLight Wielder
THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO METAL SLINGER, AKA THE BOOK WITH THE PLOT TWIST THAT BROKE THE INTERNET Sail the seas. Master the blade. Protect your heart. What would you do to have it all? READERS ARE GOING WILD FOR *METAL SLINGER* ‘The BEST plot twist to ever grace my Kindle’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The author is a mastermind. Romantasy is back!!!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Goal
Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Project Hail Mary
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL A BARACK OBAMA READING PICK A lone astronaut. An impossible mission. An ally he never imagined. 'The most enjoyable hard SF I have read in years' GUARDIAN 'Weir's finest work to date... This is the one book I read last year that I am certain I can recommend to anyone, no matter who, and know...Paperback$2099Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseThe Bookshop Detectives 3: Murder and Mojitos
Art Deco glamour, a Cuban crime queen and a grammar-obsessed killer collide in the #1 best-selling Bookshop Detectives’ high-stakes final instalment. The Bookshop Detectives are on the case! Booksellers Garth and Eloise Sherlock (and their cowardly dog, Stevie) have been roped into hosting Murder and Mojitos, a glamorous Art Deco festival event starring Cuba’s queen of crime fiction. Between flapper...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...Paperback$2399Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
General Fiction lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
-
![]()
![]()
![]()
Hannah's listGeneral Fiction
Gothic Reads for Dark Nights
With the advent of movie adaptations like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, it looks like pop culture is seeing a revival of the...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Top 10 Most Recommended Books
These are my Top 10 books that I always recommend to my friends and whānau when they ask for recommendations for getting...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Books to Escape a Reading Slump
A reading slump can be a frustrating feeling and hard to break out of, but we've gathered together a list of crowd...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![Star Shipped]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Lizzy's Pride Fiction Picks!
June marks Global Pride Month so in case you're looking for your next great fiction read, here's a list of some of...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listGeneral Fiction
Readers’ Top 100 Novels of All Time - from The Guardian
There was some controversy when The Guardian released their critics and authors list of the top 100 novels of all time, but...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listGeneral Fiction
Shirl's Favourite Books of 2026
The first half of 2026 has been packed with brilliant books, making it hard to choose favourites but here are a few...View the list
