How did Glasgow become the great City that it is today? Who made it possible for the Clyde to become such an important centre of shipbuilding and trade? This is the previously untold story of George Reith, one volatile, often bad-tempered and always bossy man who had the vision in the 19th century to transform GlasgowÆs potential to become a great city of the Empire. In absorbing style, we are told the story of the great but unheralded Scot who created the means for ships to get into Glasgow from the Atlantic - making Glasgow a city of enormous worldwide importance; who improved GlasgowÆs health; introduced new forms of engineering construction, improved safety on ScotlandÆs railways and played a key role in the development of Clydebank. This is the incredible life of a man who rose from a humble farmstead to shape a river, a city and a nation.
MARISTA LEISHMAN, highly acclaimed author of My Father - Reith of the BBC, which was shortlisted as Saltire Award Book Of The Year, tells the story of her great great grandfather, the fascinating influences of the time and, above all, the development of the Clyde.