Jennifer Tann Knihy

Focusing on the life of Matthew Boulton, this biography explores his pivotal role as an eighteenth-century designer and inventor. Before partnering with James Watt, he established himself as a successful industrialist in silver and plated goods, leveraging a vast European business network. His commercial acumen was crucial in bringing the steam engine to market, transforming industry and transport globally. The book highlights Boulton's sociable nature, his involvement with the Lunar Society, and his contributions to the Industrial Revolution, based on two decades of research.

In the woollen industry's heyday Gloucestershire had over 200 mills, producing cloth which was transported to markets all over the world: to Europe, Hudson's Bay, India;