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Recently re-awakened interest in
the achievements of Britain's most famous engineer - Isambard
Kingdom Brunel - reached a climax on 9th April 2006, when the
Bicentenary of Brunel's birth was celebrated. This superb new
book is intended to be a permanent memorial to that event. Probably no other railway company in the world has had more written about it that than the Great Western Railway, from the time of its inception in 1833, until the present day. Indeed, even today, on Britain's privatised railway system, the name 'Great Western' lives on. Although the Great Western Railway would prove even larger than Brunel, its place for ever assured in the annals of industrial, transport and civil engineering history, it was the genius of Brunel and his meticulous attention to the smallest detail in he what considered 'The finest work in England' that made it all possible. This book deals uniquely with the some of the personalities necessarily involved in the construction of the railway and how Brunel harnessed their individuality to ensure his great project succeeded. Under scrutiny during the period of construction from many quarters, read how Brunel coped with the formidable pressure that was heaped upon him, his ability before a parliamentary committee to coolly and skilfully parry probing by an opposing counsel making him a formidable witness. The disdain Brunel displayed towards the Thames Commissioners, the guardians of the great river, is told for the first time, swords being crossed many times because of the construction of the three great bridges over the Thames at Maidenhead, Gatehampton and Moulsford. Never before recorded, read about how the construction of Brunel's magnificent bridge over the Thames at Maidenhead was placed at jeopardy, the original choice of contractor proving woefully inadequate. The author - while painting a broad canvas of the construction of the line between Bristol and London - concentrates on one section, this becoming a microcosm - or case study - of what was being enacted along the whole line of railway. Based on fact, this book has only been possible because of the work of a number of anonymous clerks in the Company's offices at the time, whose responsibility it was to copy the copious and lengthy correspondence required for the promotion and construction of what would become the most famous of railway companies. Thus, this volume consists of mainly previously unpublished material, using official Great Western Railway records from the period, together with other original material. The majority of the illustrations are believed not been used before in previous histories of the Great Western Railway and of particular interest are those originating from the great engineer himself and contained in his personal notebooks. Of immense value to students and historians in many fields, as well as the railway modeller, for the first time ever and reproduced in its entirety, is the complete text of a Contract for the construction of one of the sections of Brunel's great enterprise. |
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