Most people are under a misapprehension: the Rocket was not the first steam engine. Quite a few were built before it, but Stephenson's engine was the first successful steam locomotive. Colin Maggs tells the story of the steam engine, from pre-Rocketdays, to British Railways building the Evening Star - the last main-line locomotive - through to the preservation movement and the new-build locomotives of extinct classes such as the Tornado.

In this comprehensive history, Colin Maggs, one of the country's foremost railway historians, tells of other, perhaps less well-known aspects of the history of steam in Great Britain. The first railway lines, the activities of the early railway companies, the design and manufacture of faster and faster engines and the lives of the men and women who drove the industry. These and other fascinating stories from the age of steam are all revealed in this accessible book, illustrated with over 150 photographs and period ephemera, many in colour.