L T C Rolt was an engineer and pioneer of industrial history; in this book he combined these two passions to give us a fascinating account of the men who 'made' Britain. From Brunel to Telford, he takes us on a journey from the first railway tracks being laid down to bridges spanning hitherto unimagined lengths, through to the 'invention' and mastery of the gas and electricity, which we take for granted today. The Victorians were at the forefront of modern technology in their time, but often came to see it as a blight on their landscape and struggled to adapt to the fast pace of this new industrial era.

In this book, Rolt not only examines the creations that made Britain's empire great, but also how the age of optimism turned to one of disillusionment with many of our inventors finding fame and fortune abroad. This unrivalled insight into our industrial heritage is compulsory reading for anyone wanting to appreciate the foundations on which our modern lives were built.