Brunel, The Man Who Built The World

Brunel, The Man Who Built The World: A Penny Dreadful Review

            As I traveled by train the other day, I perused the biography of a man known for his bridges and railroads. He’s honored by monuments across England, and many of his viaducts and bridges still stand. He designed several of the routes that trains still travel, elegant stations that are still in use. Responsible for countless inventions and innovations, Isambard Kingdom Brunel truly built the world. Or at least, he shaped modern Britain.

            The book is Brunel: The Man Who Built The World. The author is Steven Brindle. The prose is accessible and fascinating. The man was a genius and a workaholic.

            Steven Brindle’s work is organized by accomplishment category (trains, bridges, ships, and so on) rather than strictly chronological. Indeed, as Brunel worked on several projects at once, it would be easy for the reader to lose track of them all if they were presented in such an order. I did not understand some of the technical aspects of bridge-making, but Mr. Brindle explained it as plainly as possible. A more mathematically-minded reader would doubtless understand everything.

            Isambard Kingdom Brunel shaped the Victorian world. He created much of the landscape Steampunk inhabits. Surely investigating such a figure is a worthwhile pursuit, and Brunel: The Man Who Built The World is a worthwhile book. I highly recommend this quick biography and award it four gears out of five.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Penny Dreadful Review

            When I read true crime, it is Victorian true crime. I picked up a paperback by Kate Summerscale that I at first thought to be a mystery novel. Despite sharing many similarities with a novel mystery, it was in fact an account of a true case that shocked the Victorian world: the murder at Road Hill House.

            The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher sheds light on a case that horrified Victorian England in the summer of 1860. The mutilation of a young boy stumped the local police, and the detective brought in from London couldn’t discover enough evidence to secure a conviction. The case frightened the public so because the killer wasn’t some criminal stranger. The miscreant was part of the family. Nothing was more precious, nay, holy, to the Victorian mind.

            Kate Summerscale explores how the case was reflected in the literature of the time. She touched on the way that the new and sensational journalism of the time spread knowledge of the murder all over England. Everyone had an opinion about the identity or identities of the killer. Charles Dickens believed the murderers to be the nursemaid and the father.

            I learned so much from this well-written, well-researched book. It has all the thrill of a mystery novel and all the value of a historical text. Summerscale gets a bit sidetracked at times, exploring people’s fascinating lives, but always comes back to the heart of the matter: who really killed Francis Saville Kent? The Road Hill House murder was never satisfactorily solved, despite the confession of a murderer several years later. It was the opinion of Detective-Inspector Whicher that there was an accomplice. The mystery will never be fully solved…

            I highly recommend this book. It’s a great look at Victorian reporting and literature. It’s a fascinating tale about the early days of detection. Besides, it’s a good mystery. I award The Suspicions Of Mr. Whicher four gears out of five. I stayed up all night reading it.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

1913

1913: In Search Of The World Before The Great War, A Penny Dreadful Review

1913. An interesting year. The year before the sweeping changes of the Great War. What was it like? What was it like in Paris? In London? Berlin? Charles Emmerson is here to answer your questions.
               1913: In Search Of The World Before The Great War is arranged in sections by city, a great information mine about Vienna, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, and more. It is an in-depth and detailed portrait of a world poised on the brink of a new era. This book is an incredible resource, a well-spring of historical knowledge.
              The drawback to this magnificent work of knowledge is that it is very dense and very dry. What should be fascinating and exciting comes across as a blur of facts. This book is an incredible work of research, but I wish it were written in a juicier style.
            I give this opus two and a half gears out of five. It's like reading an odious textbook, but there is so much knowledge here that it cannot be passed up.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather

Great Britain's Great War

Great Britain’s Great War: A Penny Dreadful Review

Jeremy Paxman begins with the tale of an Uncle Charlie killed in action at Gallipoli, one of thousands of tales from one hundred years ago. He makes the sweeping events of the Great War that changed the face of the modern age personal, a collection of letters and medals contained in an heirloom cigar box. He keeps his narrative at this personal level even as he investigates the actions of lords and kings.

If you've ever questioned why and how the entire world could go to war, Great Britain's Great War will answer. Here you will find what people felt and believed.

The Great War is often given as the end of the era commonly associated with Steampunk. It was the magnum opus of steam technology and the death of much of the innocence that characterizes the Victorian and Edwardian ages. The optimism of Steampunk does not carry into the jaded twenties and thirties, and diesel replaces steam. How did it end? An educated Steampunk should know.

Jeremy Paxman, in plain English, explains what happened and why, who did what and caused what. This is a shining, helpful, easily absorbed history text which I highly recommend. Five gears of five for Great Britain's Great War. It is an essential part of any Steampunk library.

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather