In the original dustsheet. Grey cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

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Conquerors of Time celebrates 150 years of courage, energy, innovation, resourcefulness and grand ideas, from the late 17th century to the early 20th. It’s about the seafarers, engineers, inventors and trailblazers who enabled the British to hold together a vast empire and the Americans to push their frontiers west. Some, such as Captain Cook and Robert Stephenson are famous. Others, like the makers of chronometers, the collectors of tropical plants or the railway engineers who roughed it in the Canadian wilderness are less well-known. What they all had in common is a desire to understand the world and a determination to harness the forces of nature. ‘Trevor Fishlock’s brio and broad vision matches those of his subjects and makes for a rattling good read.’ Lawrence James, Daily Mail ‘Fact-filled and highly evocative … the sheer romance of the story is irresistible.’ Sunday Telegraph

Reviews:

• Trevor Fishlock’s collection of stories about exploration in days gone by held me spellbound for several nights. I was expecting a somewhat dry account of fairly recent history, but was pleasantly surprised by a fast paced, absolutely engrossing book which covered such topics as Cook’s voyages of discovery, the British colonisation of India, the laying of the transatlantic telegraph line and the first powered flight to name a few. Having just watched (and enjoyed) the BBC programme “Seven Wonders of the Industrial World” I was struck by the similarities between the two – the bringing to life of exploits from times past which shaped the modern world. Highly recommended.

• If, anytime soon, you should find yourself at Heathrow Departures checking your inbox please do take a moment to count your lucky stars. This book will enlighten you as to why. It recounts the history of our species’ desire both to communicate instantly and to transport our frail bodies at will. Not that the bodies you meet in the book appear particularly frail – rather they are daring, tough, resourceful. Take one William Wills (from Totnes, Devon – where I safely sit) whose cousin Harry had only recently died exploring the Arctic. William Wills was a surveyor with ‘a longing desire’ to explore Australia. He joined an expedition led by Robert Burke and together in 1861, these two were the first to cross Australia from South to North. With a determination that runs through this book the two men finally prevailed. Yet, sadly, too frail their bodies ultimately proved: Australia’s parched interior claimed both their lives during their return journey south. Yet the knowledge they gained opened up the Australian interior for all that came after. Said expedition of Burke and Wills is but one example of the countless personal sacrifices made in humanity’s collective campaign to open up the world. The book’s story is one of railroads and cables, of empire and quest, of industry and trade. It faces down those who would sniff and sneer at modernity. It impels us to remember that back in the age of the Clipper Ship and the Pony Express technology such as jet travel, the Web, and mobile phones would have been universally astounded. Paid for by public subscription just a few years after said explorer’s demise, the Wills Monument still dominates the Totnes Plains. This book whisks you back to an age that revered such grit and determination. Chapter after chapter and tale after tale will arouse the dauntless Livingstone in you, your iron-willed inner-Brunel.

Trevor Fishlock (born 21 February 1941) is a British reporter, author and broadcaster. He has worked as a foreign correspondent for The Times and The Daily Telegraph, reporting from more than 70 countries, and has written and broadcast programmes for television and radio. He has published several books with major publishing houses, including several on Wales. Fishlock was born in Hereford, and lives in Cardiff. He has broadcast from the National Library of Wales and gave the Machynlleth Festival’s Hallstatt Lecture in 1999.