The Engineering Files

Thirty British marvels racing to 2050, and most of the country hasn't noticed.

The megaprojects, machines and breakthroughs quietly changing what this country can do, followed from the laboratory bench to the factory floor. The real places, the real people and the real numbers, in pounds and miles. One book, written plainly, ready to download the moment you pay.

  • A car that charges in the time it takes to make a cup of tea
  • A power station that leaves the factory in pieces on the back of a lorry
  • An airliner that is almost all wing
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The Engineering Files
Instant PDF download One payment, no subscription 7 days to ask for your money back Every figure in pounds, miles and feet
1949 Britain flies the world's first jet airliner
1956 First nuclear power on a national grid
1980 Oxford finds the heart of the lithium-ion battery
30 British marvels racing to 2050

Who I am

I'm Tom Ashworth. Every week on The Engineering Files I take one British breakthrough and follow it from the laboratory to the factory floor: the real places, the real people and the real numbers, in pounds and miles.

This country invented the jet airliner, the lithium-ion battery and the first nuclear power station on a national grid, and then watched other countries build them. This book is about what Britain is building now, with the honest part nobody puts in the press release.

One book. Thirty marvels.

You've watched the videos. Now keep the whole story in one book.

Every kind of marvel the channel follows, gathered into a single book you can read from the first page to the last. No engineering degree needed and no jargon left unexplained, just what this country is actually building, where, by whom, and what still stands in its way.

The Engineering Files

Britain's Century of Marvels

The thirty megaprojects and machines quietly rebuilding the country before 2050, each with its real place, its people and the one number that explains it.

  • Thirty British marvels racing to 2050: energy, flight, cars and batteries, transport and defence
  • Every marvel at its real address, from the laboratory bench to the factory floor
  • The one number behind each marvel, set against something you know: a kettle, a bus, Snowdon
  • Where Britain got there first, and why this time could be different
  • The honest part with every one: what is built, what is still a target, what stands in the way
  • Every figure in pounds, miles and feet, explained plainly
  • Instant PDF download, large type, yours to keep
US$19.00
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Seven days to change your mind

Read it. If it isn't what this page promised, write to us within seven days and you get every penny back. No forms, no reasons asked.

Before you buy

What exactly do I get?
One ebook, as a PDF you download the moment your payment goes through: thirty British megaprojects and machines on their way to 2050, across energy, flight, cars and batteries, transport and defence. Each one with its real place, the people building it, the one number that explains it, and the honest part. It's yours to keep.
Do I need to be an engineer to enjoy it?
No. Every idea is explained with something you already know, a kettle, a pint, a double-decker bus, a garden shed. If you can follow the energy bill on your doormat, you can follow this book.
Is it all good news?
No, and it would be worth less if it were. Every marvel comes with its honest part: what is still a prototype or a target, what you can't buy yet, and the times this country has been burned before in the same field. Pride holds up better when it stands on the real figures.
Is it just the videos written out?
No. The videos are where the subjects come from. The book gathers thirty marvels in one place, takes each further than a video has time for, and checks every date and figure before it goes in.
Is it about politics?
No. No parties and no politicians. Governments and companies appear only as facts in the story: who decided what, when, and what it cost.
How do I read it? Do I need a special device?
No. It's a PDF in large type. Read it on your phone, tablet or computer, or print the pages you want.
Is the price in pounds?
It's set in US dollars, so the exact amount in pounds depends on the exchange rate on the day you pay. One payment, nothing to renew.
What if I don't like it?
Write to us within seven days and you get your money back. No questions asked.

Someone will say it again this week.

At a family lunch, in the queue at the motorway services, on the radio in the car: this country doesn't build anything any more. You'll think of the Comet out of Hatfield, the battery born in Oxford, the cooling towers at Calder Hall, and you'll know how those stories ended. What you won't have is the other half. Where Britain is building now, who is doing it, and the number that shows it's real.

I want the book

Instant download · 7-day money-back guarantee

Britain's Century of MarvelsUS$19.00 Get the book