Conquerors of time - Trevor Fishlock

Trevor Fishlock puts the reader before the mast, on the dusty road, on the sledge, in the stagecoach and the howdah and aboard the clanking pioneer steamer. It is a thrilling journey.

Here are the men of the Arctic ice, the desert fire, the jungles and the seas. Here are the engineers who bridge the chasms, build the roads and railways, fashion the machines, lay the cables and string the telegraph wires. Here, too, are the doctors groping for answers to terrible diseases, surveyors and cartographers slowly making sense and shape of the world, the unsung armies of labourers, and the artists and photographers who bring the stories home. Through it all, the vital supporting cast in the saga of triumph and frequent failure, are the elephants, horses, mules, camels, bullocks and sledge dogs.

Conquerors of Time celebrates the courage, energy, innovation, resourcefulness and grand ideas of these pioneers. It wonders at the imperatives, beliefs and sheer confidence that powered their extraordinary achievements. Packed with detail, it is a narrative both vivid and moving.

Trevor Fishlock has reported from many countries as a foreign correspondent for The Times and the Daily Telegraph, and has lived in India, the United States and Russia. He has won the David Holden Award for foreign reporting and the International Reported of the Year prize. His books include India File, called 'compulsive reading' by Majid Sheikh, My Foreign Country and Cobra Road.

Gives us the whole caboodle, every innovation, all the inventors and explorers in one great teeming bundle of discovery... Like a true inventor himself, Fishlock has assembled the best and most alluring set of components one could wish for.
Guardian

Fishlock's brio and broad vision matches those of his subjects and makes for a rattling good read.
Daily Mail

An industrial crucible spouting several centuries' worth of bubbling global history... the contents stay fluid but coherent, keeping a strong sense of the hell-for-leather exuberance of this daring age, when exploration and invention went hand in calloused hand.
Geographical Magazine

Fishlock is a master of fluid prose.. the reader cannot fail to enjoy the ride
Spectator

Fishlock's dashing account of the relationship between invention and empire... [contains] excitement and powerful character delineation.
Sunday Times

Factfilled and highly evocative... the sheer romance of the story is irresistible
Justin Marozzi, Sunday Telegraph

His tale is mostly of the 19th century, told with such enthusiasm and pace that you might feel yourself short of breath. He is a vivid and elegant writer... Even perhaps familiar figures such as Burnel and Bligh of The Bounty spring vigorous and fresh out of the absorbing progress of the narrative. Enormous scope, fascinating detail; this is a whale of a book
New Scientist

A rich and entertaining account... full of action and packed with larger-than-life characters.
Sunday Herald

An intriguing and suggestive tapestry
The Scotsman

Trevor Fishlock's enjoyable book ... sparkles with fun and entertainment ... He has an excellent eye for detail
The Independent

Such an engaging style that it makes you long to go off in search of something yourself
The Lady

Hugely enjoyable book ... a narrative history alive with creativity
Oxford Times

A brilliant work ... an enriching and fascinating journey ... it works a treat
Living History Book of the Month

The book is ... filled with vivid portraits
Sunday Times