This book is primarily a photographic celebration of the legacy of George and Robert Stephenson, the father and son team in the forefront of the development of the railways, servicing the burgeoning industrial revolution. The life of George Stephenson presents a classic rags to riches tale - from illiterate colliery worker to pit owner and railway magnate. His son Robert combined the best traits of his father's character with new talents of his own to become, rightly, the most feted of the heroic' Victorian engineers. Their transport revolution was made posible through improvements in rail technology and, most importantly, the development of the steam locomotive itself.

New edition of succesful George & Robert Stephenson biography

Robert Stephenson M.P., F.R.S., Hon.MA, Hon DCL (1803-1859) was the leading engineer of his day. He was acclaimed for his development of the main-line steam locomotive and renowned for his innovations in bridge building. He built the first trunk railway line in the world between London and Birmingham, was at the centre of the railway 'mania' that gripped early Victorian Britain, and by 1850 had been responsible for one third of the railway network in England. Robert Stephenson - The Eminent Engineer is the first biographical study to be devoted to Robert Stephenson for over a century, and is fully illustrated in black-and-white and colour. Written by a team of experts in railway and engineering history, chapters explore Stephenson's early training and work with his father, George and examine his influence and achievements in railway development, noting his advocacy of planning, rather than an unbridled free market. They also examine his innovation and techniques in railway and bridge building and port and water engineering. Not least they consider Stephenson's public face - the immense recognition he won as a person who contributed to the transformation of society by opening up communications and transport, and his career as a respected arbitrator, MP, and Commissioner for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

An evocative collection of photographs documenting the final days of steam on the railways of North East England.

A brilliant, perceptive biography of the father and son who initiated the age of the railway.