This historical novel envisions the invention of America's first gasoline automobile. One of ten children and eventually the son of a successful post-Civil War manufacturer, John William Lambert was well situated to explore his love of engines and his dream of a self-propelled car. Based on facts from a hand-written family tree and other family materials, combined with research about the man and the era, this story tells of America's Industrial Revolution through the life of one its most prodigious inventors. The author is the great-granddaughter of the inventor of America's first gasoline...

The more I learned about my great-grandfather, the more impressed I was. One of ten children in an entrepreneurial, hard-working family, he was front and center for the industrial revolution that characterized his age. At only thirty John designed, built and drove the first gasoline-powered car in America. Johns prototype was different from other efforts of his day. Others took an existing stationary engine and fastened it to a carriage built to be pulled by a horse. John built his machine to carry the weight of his engine which became famous for is unique transmission design of two...