The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: The Amazing Life and Unexplained Death of the Great Inventor

On September 29, 1913, the steamer "Dresden" departs from Belgium to Great Britain. On board is the inventor of the innovative engine Rudolf Diesel, whose creation is changing the face of European and American industry. But the genius engineer is fated not to arrive at his destination: during the night he disappears without a trace. Newspapers around the world speculate: what happened? An accident? Suicide? Or perhaps a cold-blooded elimination for political motives?

In your hands is a gripping biography and historical detective that became a bestseller according to The New York Times. Douglas Brant recreates the life of the brilliant inventor in the tumultuous era at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The pages of the book intertwine the stories of Kaiser Wilhelm II and oil magnate John Rockefeller, young politician Winston Churchill, and innovator Thomas Edison — all those who, in one way or another, were connected to Diesel's fate. Relying on archival sources, the author attempts to unravel what happened aboard the "Dresden" and who the inventor, who changed the balance of power in the global economy, had upset.