Giants of Steam

The thrilling story of the last, and greatest, generation of steam railway locomotives in regular main line service: a story of invention, skill and passion, Giants of Steam reveals how the true advocates of steam's glory days pushed its design and performance to remarkable limits, taking these powerful and beautifully designed machines to new heights against a backdrop of the political upheavals and military conflicts of the mid twentieth century.





Glancey tells the stories of the greatest of the 'steam men', the charismatic engineers who designed these machines and put them to use. Giants of Steam also reveals how steam design has continued to progress against the odds in recent decades, while enthusiasm for the steam locomotive itself is far from burning out.



Jonathan Glancey is well known as the former architecture and design correspondent of the Guardian and Independent newspapers. He is also a steam locomotive enthusiast and pilot. A frequent broadcaster, his books include the bestselling Spitfire: The Biography; Nagaland: A Journey to India's Forgotten Frontier; Tornado: 21st Century Steam; The Story of Architecture and The Train: An Illustrated History.



A celebration of the last days of steam, which goes straight to the mechanical heart of the locomotive



A paean to the last days of steam locomotion



Jonathan Glancey's new book is a celebration of men such as Nigel Gresley: the railway engineers who, not only in Britain, but also in France, Germany, Russia and the USA, and surprisingly, Argentina, in the last days of steam designed large, powerful, efficient and splendid locomotives... Mr Glancey offers a compelling thesis about the merits and potential of the steam locomotive



An intriguing history and, in the way that Jonathan Glancey takes on the journey through these pages, a pleasurable experience