Dandy Gilver & A DEADLY MEASURE of BRIMSTONE by Catriona McPherson

Summary

A lithograph that came from my grandfather had a story to tell; that of one man who changed the face of the world – Timothy Hackworth. Where others faltered, he confidently reached forward into the future. In a stand against failure, his voice and skill prevailed. We are all indebted to him.

His was the story of determination and talent you were never told at school. A future forged in the white heat of a new technology that shaped our world.

In 1893, the famed Chicago World’s Fair laid out for the world to see and honour Transportation; the coming of age of the men who made the steam locomotive a reality. While Hackworth's reputation had been trampled underfoot in England, the family were given the chance in America to confront history – to uncover and claim his rightful place.

Set against the backdrop of those events in America, I have, in my turn, followed the family’s quest, uncovering a very human story of challenging times. Described as ‘unputdownable’, ‘intriguing’, and ‘filled with details history sought to leave unmentioned and unanswered’, the book makes a powerful claim for the true place for Timothy Hackworth. More than one hundred years in the waiting, the life of the man who got all steamed up for the world can finally stand out from the shadows cast by George Stephenson and ‘Rocket’.

Mike Norman