Review
When Narcis Monturiol declared in middle age that the working classes could find their freedom at the bottom of the sea, everyone thought him mad. Even when he designed the world's first steam-powered submarine, to help coral divers harvest their crop in safety, the sniffing classes derided him. But the visionary Spaniard had the last laugh on them all, although he would have been saddened to see where his submarine invention eventually led. As Stewart shows in this graphically-written and lavishly-illustrated book, Monturiol was one of the great idealists. Naive he may have been in political terms but he believed he could create a utopian society for the impoverished and that his submarine would lead the way. It never occurred to him that his vessel would be refined and used as a weapon of war. Monturiol invented many other devices and was also a great architect and artist. But for him, Barcelona would never have developed into the great city it has become. A great tribute to one of the forgotten men of history.(Kirkus UK)
Product Description
This book revolves around the strange and noble life of Narcis Monturiol, a utopian social revolutionary, political misfit and self-taught engineer who, improbably, invented the world's first fully operational steam-powered submarine in Barcelona during the mid-19th century. His feat of visionary engineering was to Barcelona what the lunar landings would be to America in the 20th century. But Monturiol's utopian ideals would also be applied to the redesign of the city of Barcelona and ultimately contributing to the modern discipline of urban planning. Others inspired by Monturiol would contribute to the music, literature, art and architecture that spawned the celebrated rebirth of Catalan culture around the turn of the 20th century.This elegantly written and lavishly illustrated book contains the story of an extraordinary individual and his pioneering technical achievement. But the story of Monturiol is also the story of the unique city of Barcelona and its transition to modernity.
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