BRUNEL - AN ENGINEERING BIOGRAPHY

Sample

The year 2006 sees celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, recently voted the second greatest Britain ever in a BBC poll. There are few more controversial figures in the history of British engineering. He towered over his contemporaries like a Colossus and, in terms of the breadth of his activities, from the construction of the Great Western Railway to his great ships and bridges, he was the predominant figure for two decades in the mid-19th century prior to his premature death in 1859. However, Brunel was controversial even in his own lifetime and the debate about his real abilities continues to the present. Just how great an engineer was Brunel, and is the imperious status which he achieved, after his death, justified? With interest in Brunel in 2006 rising owing to the various events marking his birth, this seems an appropriate time to produce this new biography of the great man. In his latest book for Ian Allan Publishing, one of Britain's foremost railway authors and historians, Adrian Vaughan, has conducted a critical re-examination of Brunel's achievements. Drawing upon many sources, including Brunel's own correspondence, he portrays the struggle that Brunel had in trying to achieve his aims and how far he was forced to rely upon others, most notably his father and those who were in day-to-day management of the various projects. This provocative and entertaining book with the somewhat revisionist view it takes of the Brunelian universe will cause much debate and discussion between those who both greatly admire IKB and others of a more sceptical disposition. When read in conjunction with the new biography of his father, Sir Marc Brunel, there is much food for thought for the admirers of Brunel in this fascinating new study.

Contents

• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• Early Years; 1827-1833
• The Game’s Afoot
• Designing the Line
• The Survey
• Getting the Act
• The Broad gauge
• Locomotives and Carriages
• Brunel Under Threat
• Assitants
• The Contractors
• Brunel and the Navvies
• SS Great Western and SS Great Britain
• The South Wales and the Atmospheric Railway
• The Chepstow Bridge
• Paddington and the Royal Albert Bridge
• Cornwall Viaducts and the SS Great Eastern
• Index

Tag cloud: brunel biography isambard poll colossus figure mid-19th death vaughan day-to-day brunelian marc food game chepstow paddington cornwall

Tell a friend about this publication