"Weightman expertly marshals his cast of characters across continents and centuries, forging a genuinely global history that brings the collaborative, if competitive, business of industrial innovation to life."---The New York Times Book Review<BR><BR>In less than one hundred and fifty years, an unlikely band of scientists, spies, entrepreneurs, and political refugees took a world made of wood and powered by animals, wind, and water, and made it into something entirely new, forged of steel and iron, and powered by steam and fossil fuels. In The Industrial Revolutionaries, a sweeping, critically acclaimed history of this transformation, Gavin Weightman weaves together the dramatic stories of giants such as Edison, Watt, Wedgwood, and Daimler, with lesser-known or entirely forgotten characters. Distilling complex technical achievements, outlandish figures, and daring adventure, The Industrial Revolutionaries is a remarkable, original history of a changing world.<BR><BR>"Integrating lively biography with technological clarity, Weightman converts the Industrial Revolution into an enjoyable readable period of history."---Booklist