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		Brunt, Douglas.

	Subjects
		Diesel, Rudolf, 1858-1913.
		Inventors -- Germany -- Biography.
		Inventors -- Biography.
		Mechanical engineers -- Biography.
		Mechanical engineers -- Germany -- Biography.
		Diesel motor -- History.
		Diesel motor.
		Disappeared persons -- Biography.
		World War, 1914-1918.

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		Brunt, Douglas.

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		Brunt, Douglas.
		Diesel, Rudolf, 1858-1913.
		Inventors -- Germany -- Biography.
		Inventors -- Biography.
		Mechanical engineers -- Biography.
		Mechanical engineers -- Germany -- Biography.
		Diesel motor -- History.
		Diesel motor.
		Disappeared persons -- Biography.
		World War, 1914-1918.


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The mysterious case of Rudolf Diesel : genius, power, and deception on the eve of World War I / Douglas Brunt.

by Brunt, Douglas.

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Atria Books, 2023.

Diesel, Rudolf, 1858-1913.

Inventors -- Germany -- Biography.

Inventors -- Biography.

Mechanical engineers -- Biography.

Mechanical engineers -- Germany -- Biography.

Diesel motor -- History.

Disappeared persons -- Biography.

World War, 1914-1918.

9781982169909 (hc.)

1st Atria Books hardcover ed.

x, 374 p., 8 unnumbered pages of plates : col. ill.; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 345-361) and index.

"September 29, 1913: the steamship Dresden is halfway between Belgium and England. On board is one of the most famous men in the world, Rudolf Diesel, whose new internal combustion engine is on the verge of revolutionizing global industry forever. But Diesel never arrives at his destination. He vanishes during the night and headlines around the world wonder if it was an accident, suicide, or murder. After rising from an impoverished European childhood, Diesel had become a multi-millionaire with his powerful engine that does not require expensive petroleum-based fuel. In doing so, he became not only an international celebrity but also the enemy of two extremely powerful men: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil and the richest man in the world. The Kaiser wanted the engine to power a fleet of submarines that would finally allow him to challenge Great Britain's Royal Navy. But Diesel had intended for his engine to be used for the betterment of mankind and refused to keep the technology out of the hands of the British or any other nation. For John D. Rockefeller, the engine was nothing less than an existential threat to his vast and lucrative oil empire. As electric lighting began to replace kerosene lamps, Rockefeller's bottom line depended on the world's growing thirst for gasoline to power its automobiles and industries. At the outset of this new age of electricity and oil, Europe stood on the precipice of war. Rudolf Diesel grew increasingly concerned about Germany's rising nationalism and military spending. The inventor was on his way to London to establish a new company that would help Britain improve its failing submarine program when he disappeared."--From publisher.

"“No inventor was more disruptive to the established order than Rudolf Diesel,” writes historian and novelist Brunt (Trophy Son) in this thrilling investigation. The French-German inventor of the diesel engine, a revolutionarily efficient improvement over earlier internal combustion engines, Diesel mysteriously disappeared on Sept. 29, 1913, during an overnight crossing of the English Channel. His body was found 11 days later by sailors on a Dutch steamer, who recovered Diesel’s personal effects, but left the body in the sea. Brunt analyzes several theories to explain Diesel’s death on the eve of WWI, including the possibility that he was assassinated by either Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II (who made clear that it was “essential that no other nation have access to Diesel’s genius”) or John D. Rockefeller (whose Standard Oil “required that the world be addicted to crude oil,” whereas Diesel’s engines were capable of burning alternative fuels). Brunt dismisses these and other theories, instead reaching a remarkable conclusion: Diesel, he claims, was secretly transported to Canada by way of a complex British covert operation. There he aided in engine development for the Allies. Brunt cites several pieces of evidence including Diesel’s wife’s disappearance six months after his own (presumably to join him), subsequent British breakthroughs in engine technology, and a similar fake corpse deception that was carried out by British intelligence during WWII. Brunt’s audacious yet surprisingly tenable theory makes for a wildly enjoyable outing."--Publishers Weekly.

Douglas Brunt is the New York Times bestselling author of Ghosts of Manhattan, The Means, Trophy Son, and The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel, and host of the top-rated SiriusXM author podcast Dedicated with Doug Brunt. A Philadelphia native, he lives in New York with his wife and three children.

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