"Isambard Kingdom Brunel is a huge name in British engineering history and his design revolutionised public transport and modern engineering. Although his projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solution to long-standing engineering problems. During his short career, Brunel not only created the Great Western Railway and constructed numerous important bridges and tunnels, but he achieved many engineering 'firsts', including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river and development of SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven ocean-going iron ship, which was at the time also the largest ship ever built..." -- p[2] of cover.