Woven around the central theme of the Durand Institute, the oldest European cultural hub of the erstwhile East Indian Railway (EIR), opened at Asansol, West Bengal in the year, 1878, Mr.P. K. Mishra has related the history of railway built heritage of the Asansol Division of Eastern Railway. In fact, credit for the restoration of the building of the Durand Institute, now called Vivekananda Institute, goes to Mr. Mishra, when he was posted as the Divisional Railway manager there.
The book brings to life the saga of this living heritage and transports the reader to the glorious yesteryears, when this institute was the cultural lifline of EIR. It also has the lifesketch of George Turnbull, the railway pioneer and Chief Engineer of East Indian Railway, who constructed the first railway line of 541 miles from Calcutta to Benaras between 1851 to 1863.