Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Engineering Knight-Errant

London England: John Murray, 1992. Hardback. Tiny tear to bottom edge of front D/J. This is the first biography to show Brunel as he actually was. The author, drawing on evidence ignored or suppressed in Rolt's classic life, reveals not just an engineer of genius, a fountain of original ideas and nervous energy, a born actor and a courageous leader, but also a man who was obstinate, unjust, dictatorial and in the end paranoid. Outwardly idomitable, Bruenl was driven by his 'blue devils'; fears and insecurities he confided only to a journal he kept locked. This drive cost others dear; the Thames Tunner cost lives, including nearly his own; the Great Western Railway, 'the finest work in England', left contractors bunkrupt; his experiements with the atmospheric railway cost shareholders their savings. He was an engineering knight-errant, not interested in mundane solutions for the benefit of shareholders but in dramatic projects that would make his name. Throughout his life he ruthlessly pursued fame, and he worked himself to an early death. Brunel's superbly engineered railways, daringly designed bridges, and three great ships - more ambitious than anything attempted for decades afterwards - serve as his monument. Much of his work is still in place, as serviceable as when it was built. But he sold his soul to ambition, and like Fraust he paid. Illustrated. 285 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions ,and all types of Academic Literature.). . Reprint. Cloth. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Hardback.