Enthusiasts of industrial and narrow-gauge railways, as well as the British private locomotive building industry, will have long known of the interest by the authors of this lovely book on the Stafford based locomotive builder and railway engineer WG Bagnall Limited. Indeed, through their three earlier books and numerous articles, they have perhaps, already made this company the best chronicled of all British private builders. However if it might be thought that all that could be said has been said, potential readers will be very much mistaken, as this volume will testifies. The authors state in their preface their objectives: to present the reader with the most comprehensive history of a British private locomotive builder and its people yet written; to explore the position the company held, along with the influence its people had, in the industry it served; lastly to trace the story of the man who founded the company along with his family. This new book is therefore, by no means restricted to engineering history, rather pride of place goes to the many people involved over the years, and their individual achievements and as such it should appeal to a wide readership. While the authors leave readers to decide if any or all of these objectives have been achieved, there would seem to be little doubt that they have.
