Holding the Line tells the story of the revival of the Kent and East Sussex Railway. Beginning with a brief history of the railway prior to 1961, it goes on to describe in detail the first ten years of the preservation project: from the aims and activities of the early volunteer working parties through the arrival of the first locomotives and attempts to raise funds to purchase the line and rolling stock, to the re-opening in 1974. It ends by linking this early period of the company's history to the present day. The charm and appeal of the K&ESR, Tenterden and the Rother Valley are described, and the story of the growth and development of the scheme is viewed in terms of the personalities involved and the volunteer way of life. The theme of 'holding the line', despite considerable difficulties, runs throughout. Many previously little-reported facts dispel any notion that the project was moribund until the early 1970s. This is, in particular, achieved by emphasizing the role and determination of the volunteers. Nick Pallant is one of the railway's long-time supporters who, in his own words, 'had been there at least some of the time' and had known 'how very much of themselves others had put into trying to re-open the line'.