Steam was the force behind the industrial revolution of the 18th century, the basic technology that made Britain the workshop of the world. Dibnah goes into the historical material that will be familiar to many readers from school, but more interestingly explores the extent to which the industrial past is still preserved in old steam locomotives, traction engines and steam-driven mill pumps.

The actual work of preservation, of maintaining these fascinating old machines, is the life work of enthusiasts whose passion for mechanisms is at the heart of this fascinating journey into the ever-present industrial past.