THE CANAL BUILDERS.

London: Eyre Methuen, 1972. 230 pp, 8 3/4" H. B&w photographs, reproductions, maps. "(T)he story of the men who, in little more than half a century from 1760, created a network of canals that revolutionised transport and represented the greatest achievement in civil engineering in Britain since the Romans. In those few years between the opening of the Bridgewater Canal in 1761 and the coming of the railways early in the nineteenth century, tens of thousands of men were involved in canal construction. They came from all classes of society - from aristocratic promoters like the Duke of Bridgewater to Irish peasants who came to dig. This book is the first to deal exclusively with the canal builders and to try to place them in the context of the social, economic, and political world of the eighteenth century, and draws skilfuly on contemporary documents, newspapers, pamphlets, and letters." Burton follows the story through the promoters (like Josiah Wedgwood) and the financiers, to the engineers (including Brindley, Telford, Rennie, Jessop & Smeaton) and the 'navvies' who actually did the digging, "from Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotland". Light wrinkling at top/bottom of spine, very light edgewear, a few very light rub lines on front board. Dust jacket is price-clipped, has very light edgewear/wrinkling, fading to spine colour (title is still dark and legible), two small edge tears archivally taped, minor browning to inside top/bottom edges.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Good+.