Monday 27 February 2017

Talk at Lit and Phil



March | Wed 15th | 13:00
Book launch: Rocket Man with Cousin Jacks: Robert Stephenson in Columbia 1824-27 FREE

This new book about the great civil and mechanical engineer Robert Stephenson, reveals for the first time the full account of his 3 years in the northern part of South America – mainly Colombia - as a mining engineer between 1824 and 1827.
Bob Longridge, chairman of the Robert Stephenson Trust and author of the book said 'It is based on 111 letters from him to his boss in Bogotá, Richard Illingworth. The correspondence reveals an extraordinary series of challenges and frustrations with which he had to contend at a time when the country of Colombia was just recovering from a brutal war with the Spanish rulers - won by Simon Bolivar – and from a series of devastating earthquakes'.