A worthy read about a remarkable engineer but, echoing the previous reviewer, I came away with no great liking for Mr Telford. His lack of a family life does remove one dimension from his story, which is a shame, perhaps for him as well. Still, he was a master builder who deserves a higher standing in the national consciousness. ( )

I have always been interested in Thomas Telford, largely because he was perhaps the most famous person to have come from the area of Dumfriesshire where my mother grew up. Telford is, of course, now best remembered as a prolific civil engineer, responsible for scores of bridges, canals and prominent building projects around the British Isles, with the Menai Bridge possibly his crowning glory.

Such an outcome could not have seemed less likely given his humble start in life. He was born into considerable poverty in Dumfriesshire in 1757, and was plunged into deeper financial straits when his father died two years later. The young Telford and his mother took refuge with other family members, and he seemed destined to follow his father's path and become a shepherd. He did, however, have the good fortune to receive an excellent education at the local school in Eskdale, and was, as a consequence, able to embark upon an apprenticeship in Langholm, the largest town in the area (and still known today as 'the Muckle Toon'). His first bridge was built in Langholm across the River Esk, and still stands today.

One of the principal premises driving Glover's book is the extent to which Telford, despite his considerable achievements, has faded from the modern public consciousness. He cites as an example the list of Great Britons curated by the BBC in the approach to the millennium, in which Brunel, advocated by Jeremy Clarkson, was placed second, while Telford merited scarcely a mention. Glover suggests that this might reflect bad luck on Telford's part. While his achievements were marvellous, and represented the cutting edge of engineering techniques at the time, many of them were either endeavours in areas that would subsequently become a technological cul-de-sac (such as his work on canals that would be rendered largely irrelevant with the explosion of the railway network shortly after his death) or were superseded by later developments. After all, even his amazing Menai Bridge would soon be supplanted by George Stephenson's Briatannia Bridge.

Telford's success reflected his separate though complementary talents as a mason, an architect, and engineer, but also as an early master of the art of project management. He developed impeccable skill at organising his projects (including the adroit lobbying to secure the requisite political endorsement for them). He was also one of the first prominent engineers properly to understand the importance of infrastructure as avital ingredient in the national development.

While Telford was certainly a high achiever, Glover makes clear that he had a commensurately high opinion of his own abilities and achievements, developing a form of apparent self-deprecation that actually served principally to stress how clever and gifted he was. He did, however, have much to be proud of. Always an earnest and voracious reader, even from his earliest childhood, he was also a fairly accomplished poet, and may well have cultivated a friendship with his fellow Lowland Scot, Robert Burns. They certainly corresponded with each other, and Telford appears to have written a moving obituary upon Burns's death.

Glover has clearly researched his subject exhaustively, and has produced an accessible and engaging biography. The paradox is that while I certainly enjoyed the book, I don't feel that I really like Telford. His achievements speak for themselves, and he certainly deserves more public acclaim than he now receives, but he seems to have been a rather pompous and overly self-righteous man. Given the scale of his achievements, and the penury of his beginnings, I feel mean in making that judgement, but I just can't make myself feel more favourably towards him. ( )