By his own admission, Fred Dibnah was a man born out of his time. His era should have been the 'magnificent age of British engineering', the nineteenth century, and his heroes were the great industrial engineers of that time. Fred Dibnah's Victorian Heroes tells the stories of some of these men - from James Watt to Thomas Telford; George Stephenson to Isambard Kingdom Brunel - and what it was that made them such inspirational figures to Fred. What were their backgrounds? What provided their drive and vision? What sort of people were they - at work and at home? And what was the contribution they made to the history of industry and engineering? Most of them were colourful, larger-than-life characters who had confidence in progress and their ability to overcome any obstacle. They were men for whom no challenge was too great, whose 'tackle anything' approach was one that was always shared by Fred. This is a great slice of Victorian social history, told straight from the inimitable Fred Dibnah.