The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer

By the time of his death aged 53, Isambard Kingdom Brunel had made a major impact on Victorian civil engineering with projects including the Great Western Railway, the Clifton suspension bridge, and transatlantic steamships. This biography by his son, with technical input from Brunel's former colleagues, was published in 1870.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859) was one of the outstanding civil engineers of the nineteenth century. He began his professional life while still in his teens, as his father's chief assistant engineer on the Thames Tunnel, and remains famous for projects including the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the SS Great Eastern. This study by his elder son, who was assisted in technical details by his engineer brother and by colleagues of their father, was published in 1870. The opening and closing chapters discuss Brunel's childhood and his private life, but the main body of the book presents Brunel's work thematically, with sections on bridges, railways, steamships, and dock and pier works. In all these areas Brunel was an innovator, pioneering the use of new materials and revolutionising early Victorian transport networks. The book also includes reports to the directors of the Great Western Railway and Great Western Steamship Company.