Surprisingly, in view of the extensive coverage given to Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Eastern, which was neither popular nor successfuI, his Great Westem has not, until now, been given the same in-depth trentment. In this beautifully illustrated and immensely readable book, Denis Griffiths has adrnirably remedied that deficiency. The Great Western simultaneously represented the ultimate af her type and ushered in a new era af transatlantic travel. This book exarnines her pIace in the context of her rivals and contemporaries. Unlike some of Brunel's other ambitious projects, the Great Western was a commerciai successo Indeed, she was sold from the lucrative transatIantic route primarily to make up a deficit brought about by the construction of her sister ship, the Great Britain. Written by a lecturer in maritime engineering and former ship's engineer from Merseyside, this book, in itself a work of considerable research, traces the history af the ship from conception to the scrapyard and even beyond the grave, to the last surviving relic, her bell. Both descriptive and anecdotaL, and packed with technical and engineering details as well as records of all her voyages, Brunel's Great Western also gives an unusual insight into Victorian commerciaI mentality and will be of great value to all maritime and social historians.