George Elliot was a self-made Victorian entrepreneur who rose from humble beginnings as a pit boy in England’s north-east to become one of the biggest coal owners in the world. His aptitude in engineering would later lead to him being deeply involved in the manufacture and laying of the first Transatlantic Cable.

He became an MP and was created a Baronet by Queen Victoria. He worked extensively with Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and Ismail Pasha, the ruler of Egypt at the time of the Suez Canal’s construction, it which he played a part. This book includes an overview of the Industrial Revolution and its radical effects on the lives of people in Britain, the laying of the Transatlantic Cable, and a blow-by-blow account of the building of the Suez Canal.

Also discussed are Elliot’s relationships with notable figures of the era, including Disraeli, ‘Railway King’ George Hudson, and the writer Bram Stoker.