'George and Robert Stephenson' is a biographical novel about the two railway pioneers and famous engineers, written by their close friend Samuel Smiles. George Stephenson (1781-1848) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use steam locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which opened in 1830. Renowned as the 'Father of Railways'. Robert Stephenson (1803-1859) was an early railway engineer. The only son of George Stephenson, he built on the achievements of his father. Robert has been called the greatest engineer of the 19th century.