Isambard Kingdom Brunel is famous for many things - the Great Western Railway, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, timber viaducts and the steamships Great Western, Great Britain and Great Eastern - but his work in South Wales has been largely overlooked. Yet South Wales provided the landscape in which many of his innovative works were pioneered and Brunel the engineer is represented there at virtually every stage of his career. Many of these engineering landmarks survive and are still in use to this day.

This is the first in a series of three volumes examining the achievements and legacy of Brunel in South Wales (reaching into Mid and North Wales, Bristol and the Borders), beginning with the historic background of the Merthyr ironworks and Richard Trevithick. It will look at railways, docks, piers and other connections, including his great ships which had strong links with South Wales, despite not having been built there. Born in Cardiff, Stephen K. Jones writes and lectures on local and industrial history, photography and Brunel and his works.