I've heard I can book tickets to anywhere in Europe on the German railways site. Is this true?
Unfortunately not. You can search European timetables from Deutsche Bahn, but you can't book tickets (except for journeys within Germany) as the site doesn't have the necessary pricing information.

And do I have to be able to speak German?
No. But make sure you go to the address above, rather than deutschebahn.de, since the English language sections are poorly signposted.

So where can I book tickets?
If your journey is to France, go to www.sncf.fr If you don't mind booking the British legs and sorting out the later connections in Paris or Brussels, try www.thetrainline.com (for connections to London) and then www.eurostar.com. Or - if you want to book most of the journey all at once - call Rail Europe on 08705 848 848.

I'm told that some smaller towns, such as Shrewsbury and Abergavenny, now have direct trains to Waterloo's international rail terminal. But I can't find them on rail.co.uk, or thetrainline .com, or Eurostar.
They do indeed. But the only place you will find them is Deutsche Bahn and the South Wales & West site (walesandwest.co.uk). I called SW&W to find out why they were missing out on the opportunity to include their trains in the online national rail timetable.

And what did they say?
"We have so many trains that some of them aren't even on our site," replied the hapless booking clerk. Investigation revealed that a standard return from Shrewsbury to Waterloo costs £140. That's 15 times as much as a Virgin Value 7 Day Return from Shrewsbury to Euston.

No wonder SW&W want to keep their trains a secret.
Don't worry: things are about to get even more complicated, when Railtrack and transport company First Group launch another rail booking site to compete with The Trainline.