'Seven Wonders of the Industrial World' uncovers the truth behind the epic monuments of the industrial revolution, from Isambard Kingdom Brunel's extraordinary SS Great Eastern, the 'Crystal Palace of the Seas', to the Panama Canal, that linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans over half a century later.
This is how our modern world was really forged - in rivers, grease, and steam; in blood, sweat and human imagination.
'Deborah Cadbury had a difficult task with this book. How do you take seven examples of tremendous engineering/construction feats and condense each one into 40-50 pages ... and still get across to the reader the richness and complexity of each story? Well, Ms. Cadbury has managed to do it. She gives enough details so that you can understand how difficult each of these projects were. She also includes plenty of "human interest" information, so we learn about some of the engineers involved in these projects and how their obsession with work, in several cases, affected their health and even shortened their lives. The author also talks about some of the financiers behind these projects (and some unscrupulous business practices). But Ms. Cadbury doesn't limit herself to the bigwigs. She also shows us the brawn as well as the brains - the thousands and thousands of laborers who actually did the bullwork: the people who braved 100 mile per hour winds and 100 foot waves to build the Bell Rock Lighthouse; the workers who built the Brooklyn Bridge, and got "the bends" from working in pressurized caissons under New York's East River; the Chinese laborers who froze to death in 40 below zero temperatures in the Sierra Nevada mountains (or who were blown up while setting explosive charges), as the Union Pacific railroad made its way eastward from California. (The Chinese workers were considered so insignificant and dispensable that the railroad didn't even bother to keep records on how many died.)' - [partial extract] Reviewer, Amazon.co.uk
Contents:
Introduction
1. The 'Great Eastern'
2. The Bell Rock Lighthouse
3. The Brooklyn Bridge
4. The London Sewers
5. The Transcontinental Railroad
6. The Panama Canal
7. The Hoover Dam
Bibliography and Sources
Illustration Credits
Acknowledgements
Index
Review:I can't believe there was so much I DIDN'T know about the Industrial Revolution and its effects! If you enjoyed the super TV program then you will love this book. Here are the stories of some of the most amazing and determined men (and women...) who have shaped the very world we live in. Easy to read yet full of fascinating details of the incredible achievements - a real eye-opener. Highly recommended for anyone who likes a good story - and these are true! - Reviewer, Amazon.co.uk
