BOOK REVIEW
BY JAMES P . PROUT
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel
By Douglas Brunt Atria Books 374 pages with photos , appendix , notes and index $ 28.99
In the more than 20 book reviews I ’ ve written for Financial History , this is a first : I am writing about a book that has been optioned for a movie ! It ’ s not about early colonial currency or the medieval banking system . It ’ s a square-on mystery story — a tale of a pre-WWI engineer , Rudolf Diesel , whose invention changed industry and transportation . A man whose opinions were discussed worldwide , and who rubbed elbows with the Nobels , Edison , Benz , August Busch and other notable figures . And then ( foreboding music please ), on the dark night of September 29 , 1913 , after booking passage on a North Sea ship from Europe to England , this famous man disappeared . He was never seen or heard from again .
A slippery accident ? A tragic suicide ? A sinister murder ? Maybe . You have to read The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel by Douglas Brunt to begin to puzzle out how the inventor / developer of the diesel engine met his end . This is a fun , well-researched , well-written story of an underappreciated genius whose engine still powers our world . And the cast includes Winston Churchill , the British Naval Intelligence unit , Dreadnoughts , U-Boats , John Rockefeller and ( cue the villain music ) Kaiser Wilhelm II .
Brunt starts the book in 1850s Europe when Diesel was born in Paris in 1858 . The continent was about to undergo two far-reaching developments that are the background for the rest of the book . The first was the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership . Germany became a new entrant in a struggle among France , Britain , Austro-Hungary and Russia for power on the European continent , and in the race for overseas expansion and colonies . The second was an “ explosion ” of technical advancements which paced an equally astounding expansion of industrial activity and wealth . Mining , manufacturing , steel making , transportation , construction and personal consumption all saw radical and rapid change . No part of the world ’ s economy was untouched .
The Diesels were a family of toymakers and tinkerers , with clear artistic sensibilities . According to Brunt , Rudolf had a penchant for de-constructing his father ’ s elaborate mechanical toys . The family had hard times . But through a series of breaks , by the 1870s , Diesel ended up in Augsberg , Germany , at a technical school where his instincts for engineering and machinery improvements stood out . Brunt does a good job in describing the zeitgeist of Germany ’ s capital goods sector during this time — rich , competitive , willing to take risks and seeing the opportunities in growing internationally . Improvements in engineering were constantly in demand .
After receiving his first patent for bottling ice in 1881 at age 23 , Diesel turned his talents to work on something that challenged every industry , everywhere . Engine efficiency . Although there were other alternatives , the world at the time relied largely on steam power . A boiler heats water and the resulting steam turns gears or blades which , in turn , create the drive for an engine . The fuel is burned separately from the engine . These can be very powerful , but they are completely inefficient , with a vast majority of the energy from the original fuel ( wood or coal ) wasted by the time the engine turns .
By 1891 , Diesel had his answer — oil could be pressurized and ignited within an engine , with the resultant explosion transferred directly to create power . Oil was lighter , more stable than benzene ( gasoline ) and required no men shoveling coal into a furnace . In addition , Diesel ’ s engine could produce power immediately , without the time needed to “ raise steam .” The patent for the new engine was issued in 1893 . Over the next two decades , Diesel would grow rich and famous as his new engine proved its efficiency and power .
Enter Wilhelm II , the German Kaiser who had a chip on his shoulder about his British royal cousins and their worldclass navy . As the 20th century opened , Wilhelm upped the ante on British naval dominance , both in surface ships and on the new undersea threat of submarines . Germany would build a navy to match that of the British Empire . The naval race was a national security issue for both countries right up to the outbreak of World War I in 1914 . For the British Admiralty , led by Winston Churchill , Diesel ’ s engine was a game changer , with a better battle profile , higher efficiencies , lower maintenance and less weight .
All this comes together on the evening of September 29 , 1913 , when Diesel booked passage on a passenger ship from Belgium to England . He never made it to England . His disappearance made world headlines . A body was fished out of the water in the area days later . Some items belonging to Diesel were also recovered . Strangely , the body was left in the water and the fishermen who found it ( never identified ) disappeared too .
Did Diesel slip off the deck ? Did he take his own life ? Did he cross the wrong people ? Brunt methodically pulls together the various strands of the “ cold case ” and comes to his own conclusions . After 100 years , is the case solved ? No plot spoilers here . Read the book and make your judgement .
James P . Prout is a lawyer with more than 30 years of capital market experience . He now is a consultant to some of the world ’ s biggest public companies . He can be reached at jpprout @ gmail . com
44 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Winter 2024 | www . MoAF . org