Dear Christopher, and Giles, and Peter, and Clive, Thank you for writing to ask for a book about Percy. He is still cheeky, and we were afraid (Sir Topham Hatt and I) that if he had a book to himself, it might make him cheekier than ever, and that would never do! But Percy has been such a Really Useful Engine that we both think he deserves a book. Here it is. The Author
This very first book about the now famous engines was originally published in 1945. Written by Awdry in 1943 to entertain his son, Christopher, who was suffering from measles at the time, this was the first book in what was to become The Railway Series. Here are the original four stories about kind, hard-working Edward, proud Gordon, and fussy Henry. Watchful readers will recognize a very popular little blue engine hiding in one of the pictures … waiting for his own book.
This remarkably epic volume was the first to elaborate upon the character of Duck, who had appeared briefly in ‘Percy The Small Engine’. This was also the first volume to see a diesel engine on the Fat Controller’s railway. Yet, this diesel was to be the Railway Series’ first true villain – a specific characteristic that stressed Awdry’s strong opposition to the modernisation of railways with diesel traction. The stories tell of how the baneful visitor makes Duck highly unpopular with the other engines and has him briefly exiled. The Great Western hero must win back the trust of his friends by preventing a serious accident. Additionally, this volume was the first to ‘guest-star’ a ‘real’ engine -‘City of Truro’. description from J. Smith, sodor-island.net Stories: Domeless Engines Pop Goes The Diesel Dirty Work A Close Shave