The Anatomy of Canals – Decline and Renewal

This book is out of print.  The copies available are second hand, in near-as-new or very good condition.  The final volume in the Anatomy of Canals series brings the story right up to date.  Canal Mania hit Britain in the 1790s; when it subsided canal construction still carried on, but under the shadow of a new threat, as the first locomotives puffed their way onto the transport scene.  Engineers rose to the challenge by building ever more direct routes, with deep cuttings and high embankments.  This was also an age of experiment, with devices such as boat lifts, culminating in…