GREATER GENIUS? A Biography of Marc Isambard Brunel

This major biography of Sir Marc Brunel traces his life from his origins in France, his flight from the French Revolution and his struggle to gain recognition in Britain, to his ultimate acceptance and success which saw him linked to many of the greatest engineers and influential people of the time such as Henry Maudslay and Sir Samuel Bentham. Marc was involved in nearly all IKB’s ventures in an advisory capacity. It was Marc who designed the Maidenhead railway bridge, although IKB submitted the plans. Marc designed the pontoons used in the construction of the Britannia bridge over the Tamar at Saltash and the towers and the method of attaching the supporting chains for the Clifton suspension bridge at Bristol. He also first used a 7ft gauge railway at Chatham years before IKB became involved with the GWR. This book aims to redress an imbalance in the historical record, whilst acknowledging IKB’s genius, it argues that a man with a greater claim to the accolade was his father. 

Author: Harold Bagust
Format: HB 160 pages
Publisher: Ian Allan Ltd
Pub date: April 2006
ISBN 10: 0711031754
ISBN 13: 9780711031753

List Price: £24.99