Winterstoke

by L.T.C. Rolt

'It had always struck me that, despite its overwhelming importance in the story of mankind, far too little attention had been paid to the Industrial Revolution in literature and art . . . I conceived the idea of concentrating a number of actual historical happenings in the English Midlands upon one imaginary industrial town . . . from the days of the first monastic mill on the river to the present day when an atomic research establishment on the outskirts of a huge blackened town struck a new apocalyptic note . . . I called my imaginary town Winterstoke.' Tom Rolt, writing in 1972L. T. C. ('Tom') Rolt (1919-74) was a famed pioneer in the preservation of Britain's canal networks and railways, a biographer of the great civil engineers, and a forerunner of our current green movement. Winterstoke (1952), arguably his most visionary work, is reissued here with a new introduction featuring his widow Sonia and son Tim.

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 25, 2015

About the author

Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt (usually abbreviated to Tom Rolt or L.T.C. Rolt) was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Telford. He is also regarded as one of the pioneers of the leisure cruising industry on Britain's inland waterways, and as an enthusiast for both vintage cars and heritage railways.

Reviews

[Pogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book which pretends to be a novel but actually is a clinical record of English social and economic history from about 1200 to the present day. It graphically illustrates the triumph of greed over protection of environment and shows exactly where the sixth extinction took root and how it is flourishing and is probably unstoppable.