The Iron Masters
“In the 18th century five men created the biggest industrial city civilisation had ever seen. They were the Iron Masters, masters of metal and men. Their cannons saved a kingdom, forged the greatest empire in the world and changed the history of the human race.”
I found it refreshing to read a story with a difference. Yes, this had the great names we are familiar with: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the like, but how often do we, as readers of historical fiction, stop to think about the important things behind the wars of the past? The things like the ships and the great guns aboard them?
In the industrial age of the eighteenth century the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil has its furnaces constantly burning. Nye Vaughn is an ordinary farm boy in search of a fruitful destiny, unknowing that it is to be shaped by a bitter war with France. For Trafalgar, Waterloo and all the battles in-between, Britain needed cannons. Creating a dynasty and a fortune, he is to build the largest iron foundry of them all – but such monsters are often hard to keep under control.
The Iron Masters vividly portrays the age of the industrial era, when iron ruled as master. Watkins’ characters are, on the whole, well drawn. Their natures are often far from perfect which makes them real people, particularly in light of the effects of war and the greed and power it invokes.
The violence of war and the passion of sex is handled with dextrous subtlety by the author, and the plot rattles along at a good pace. There are a few scenes that are perhaps more ‘tell’ than ‘show’, but overall I found this a very good, entertaining and engrossing read.
