Historians and historical research are nothing without source material, and that means libraries, especially archival collections. I am extremely grateful to the staffs of the Dundee City Library, the Archives Department of Dundee University, Dundee City Archives, the National Archives of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. For their expert advice on technical aspects of the Tay Bridge story I have relied heavily on Tom Martin, Professor Iain Macleod of Strathclyde University and Professor Roland Paxton of Heriot-Watt. Professor Paxton also kindly agreed to write the Foreword to this edition.
I should also like to thank my fellow Trustees in the Tay Rail Bridge Disaster Memorial Trust, in particular Murray Nicoll and Ian Nimmo White, for their advice and support, and my editor at Birlinn, Tom Johnstone. It was Tom who saw the first edition of the book through to publication, and now has had to do it all over again.
As always I owe a great debt to my wife Ann, whose dedication to her own work as an historical novelist is a constant inspiration.