RAMPARTS OF EMPIRE. THE FORTIFICATIONS OF SIR WILLIAMS JERVOIS ROYAL ENGINEER 1821- 1897

In 1860, Palmerston's parliament sanctioned the construction of the largest system of fortifications that the British Isles had ever seen, or would ever see again, to defend against a feared French invasion. For William Jervois, then a young major in the Royal Engineers, his appointment as 'design leader' of this programme was a major step in a career in fortress construction that would see his work in Britain, Ireland, Canada, Bermuda, Bombay, and later, Australia and New Zealand."Ramparts of Empire" is a detailed and engaging study of the life and works of William Jervois. Timothy Crick makes extensive use of extracts from Jervois' own diary and uses illustrations of his fortresses to give the reader a rounded picture of this Royal Engineer's glittering career.He also captures a real sense of the fear of invasion that prevailed in this period and which gave rise to a massive spending programme to fortify Britain. Throughout the book both the political and the technical considerations involved in constructing forts and armaments are carefully explored to flesh out the motivations in what is sometimes called the 'Golden Age' of fort building.