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The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel

Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I

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About this listen

 This instant New York Times bestselling “dynamic detective story” (The New York Times) reveals the hidden history Rudolf Diesel, one of the world’s greatest inventors, and his mysterious disappearance on the eve of World War I.

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 the world.

Now, New York Times bestselling author Douglas Brunt reopens the case and provides an “absolutely riveting” (Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author) new conclusion about Diesel’s fate. Brunt’s book is “equal parts Walter Isaacson and Sherlock Holmes,[and] yanks back the curtain on the greatest caper of the 20th century in this riveting history” (Jay Winik, New York Times bestselling author). Europe Historical Military Wars & Conflicts Western War Western Europe Funny Imperialism Submarine England Technology

What the critics say

"Narrator Scott Brick brings energy and emotion to his reading of novelist Brunt’s (Trophy Son) nonfiction debut, positing a surprising explanation for Diesel’s disappearance. Brick ably conveys the wealth of historical details and previously unknown information while adding a note of intrigue and momentum to the mystery." (Joanna M. Burkhardt)
"Scott Brick narrates this biography of Rudolf Diesel magnificently...his intonation, pacing, and understated inflection are all excellent, making this a captivating production."
All stars
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This is a very well written book that kept my interest up the entire time. The narrator was clear and presents the written text perfectly!

Awesome book

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The story of Rudolf Diesel is fascinating. Douglas Brunt weaves together a wonderfully rich view of the world during the life of Dr. Diesel and what led to his mysterious disappearance.

Scott Brick, I would follow you to the gates of hell if you narrated the journey along the way. I would listen to anything he read.

Cool story- great narrator

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Amazing story about one of the yep disrupters for the last 150 years—amazing performance— excellent

I now know

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Enjoyable book on early 20th century history and the man Rudolf Diesel. Great work Doug on the ,I presume tedious research.

Great pre WW1 accounts.

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I really really liked this book. I wanted to love it, but it was a very loonnng time until the part of the story that interested me came into play. The first 3/4 of the book was about the man and his invention… all interesting stuff, but I started to tune out a bit. The disappearance and the possible theories was very good, and worth the wait. The only thing was that, in the section about the theories, I was unable to bridge each theory to the people and events in his history (I guess I tuned out too much!), so I wasn’t able to have fun connecting the dots and develop my own sense of what most likely happened. Instead, I just heard the author’s conclusions. These are minor observations, it was still a very good book.

Rather fascinating

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