Book description
It is a largely forgotten fact that Britain was the first
industrialized country in the world, but Guy Martin - the cult
motorcycle racer and mechanic - is about to remind us how the
industrial revolution helped make Britain great.
Guy shows how the discoveries made in the late 18th-19th centuries
are to thank for the ease of our every day lives: in order to cook a
bacon and egg sandwich in Industrial-era conditions, Guy has to
restore a steam locomotive and railway to have the components
delivered to the local shop; he has to bring a saw mill back into
working order to be able to make a bicycle; he has to revamp a
Victorian fishing trawler so he can cook himself some fish and chips,
and when he decides to mow the lawn, he restores a Victorian botanical
garden. After all that, he's in need of a holiday - so he sets to work
restoring a Victorian holiday resort.
Illustrated throughout with specially commissioned photography as
well as historical images, Guy will take us through each project; his
passion, enthusiasm and sheer inventiveness bringing a completely new
perspective to the Industrial Revolution. He invites us to live it
with him, to enjoy the nostalgia, marvel in the mechanics and learn
from its legacy.
Guy Martin is a British motorcycle racer and mechanic. Born in 1981,
he followed in his father's foosteps by racing bikes, and in 2011
starred in the cult documentary
Closer to the Edge
about the 2010 TT Races in the Isle of Man. Passionate about
maintaining the legacy of the Industrial Revolution's hard grafters, he
has previously made a documentary for the BBC, called
The Boat that
Guy Built
, in which he travelled along Britain's canal networks using inventions
of the Industrial era.
