Lives of Engineers: George and Robert Stephenson

by Samuel Smiles

Life and works of two of the very first civil engineers. Reprint of the 1879 edition.

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2009

About the author

Samuel Smiles (23 December 1812 – 16 April 1904), was a Scottish author and government reformer, who campaigned on a Chartist platform. But he concluded that more progress would come from new attitudes than from new laws. His masterpiece, Self-Help (1859), promoted thrift and claimed that poverty was caused largely by irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and laissez-faire government. It has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism", and it raised Smiles to celebrity status almost overnight.

Reviews

[Jc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly engrossing! Not action packed but awesome for understanding what was going on during the birth of the industrial revolution.