Industrialisation and industrial history Books

Book SynopsisIn popular retellings of American history, capitalism generally doesn't feature much as part of the founding or development of the nation. Instead, it is alluded to in figurative terms as opportunity, entrepreneurial vigor, material abundance, and the seven-league boots of manifest destiny. ?In this collection of essays, Steve Fraser, the preeminent historian of American capitalism, sets the record straight, rewriting the arc of the American saga with class conflict center stage and mounting a serious challenge to the consoling fantasy of American exceptionalism. From the colonial era to Trump, Fraser recovers the repressed history of debtors' prisons and disaster capitalism, of confidence men and the reserve armies of the unemployed. In language that is dynamic and compelling, he demonstrates that class is a fundamental feature of American political life and provides essential intellectual tools for a shrew reading of American history.Trade Review"A spirited collection by an erudite and penetrating essayist. Fraser is an analyst of the culture of late capitalism and, among other things, he demonstrates with impressive clarity the connections between the economic changes we call neoliberalism and the psycho-cultural dramas generated by the siren song of faux populism." -- FRANCES FOX PIVEN, AUTHOR OF POOR PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS"Steve Fraser is our most incisive and encompassing cultural historian of the two gilded ages that structured American society and its economic ethos in the decades that have bracketed the nation's fleeting New Deal interregnum. Fraser has captured the emotive logic of capitalist hegemony and the dark appeal it has so often held for millions of acquiescent Americans." -- NELSON LICHTENSTEIN, AUTHOR OF WHO BUILT AMERICA?"In this collection of bracing essays, Fraser brings to the fore the perils and promise of class warfare and the daunting challenges faced by everyone who hopes to defy history and work for a just society." -- JACQUELINE JONES, AUTHOR OF GODDESS OF ANARCHY"These essays show that Steve Fraser has long been one of the wisest and most eloquent historians of American capitalism and its discontents. Erudite, passionate, and laced with wit, they are essential reading during our era of great perils and budding hopes for change." -- MICHAEL KAZIN, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY"Fraser is our preeminent historian of America as a capitalist civilization. No one is more attuned to the inner vibrations of our monied culture." -- COREY ROBIN, AUTHOR OF THE REACTIONARY MINDOne of our best social historians set the record straight about the mythologies of American capitalism. -- Peter Dreier, author of Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-first Century[The essays] display his encyclopedic knowledge of U.S. history, especially working-class history. -- Gabriel Winant * New Republic *

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Book SynopsisA radical new history of energy and humanity's insatiable need for resources that will change the way we talk about climate change *Winner of a Nouvel Observateur Award, a Fondation pour l'écologie politique Award, the Prix du jury Turgot and the Prix du Sénat du livre d'histoire 2025**Selected as an Economist and Financial Times Book of the Year*It has become habitual to think of our relationship with energy as one of transition: with wood superseded by coal, coal by oil, oil by nuclear and then at some future point all replaced by green sources. Jean-Baptiste Fressoz's devastating but unnervingly entertaining book shows what an extraordinary delusion this is. Far from the industrial era passing through a series of transformations, each new phase has in practice remained almost wholly entangled with the previous one. Indeed the very idea of transition turns out to be untrue. The author shares the same acute anxiety about the need for a green transition as the rest of us, but shows how, disastrously, our industrial history has in fact been based on symbiosis, with each major energy source feeding off the others. Using a fascinating array of examples, Fressoz describes how we have gorged on all forms of energy with whole forests needed to prop up coal mines, coal remaining central to the creation of innumerable new products and oil still central to our lives. The world now burns more wood and coal than ever before. This book reveals an uncomfortable truth: transition' was originally itself promoted by energy companies, not as a genuine plan, but as a means to put off any meaningful change. More and More and More forces its readers to understand the modern world in all its voracious reality, and the true nature of the challenges heading our way.

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Book SynopsisOscar Wilde said, 'Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.' Was he right? In Cult of Progress, David Olusoga travels the world to piece together the shared histories that link nations. We discover what happened to art in the great Age of Discovery, when civilisations encountered each other for the first time. Although undoubtedly a period of conquest and destruction, it was also one of mutual curiosity, global trade and the exchange of ideas. A few hundred years on, we see how the Industrial Revolution transformed the world, impacting every corner and every civilisation from the cotton mills of the Midlands to Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, the decimation of both Native American and Maori populations, and the advent of photography in Paris in 1839. Incredible art - both looted and created - relays the key events and their outcomes throughout the world.Trade ReviewOlusoga is a smart and inventive narrator, with a keen historical curiosity and effortless style -- Faramerz Dabhoiwala * Guardian *Told with great fluency and clarity of style ... a highly readable and engaging account -- Kwasi Kwarteng * Sunday Times *An insightful take from a great writer * History Revealed *Praise for Black and British: A Forgotten History You could not ask for a more judicious, comprehensive and highly readable survey of a part of British history that has been so long overlooked or denied. David Olusoga is a superb guide -- Adam HochschildGroundbreaking * Observer *[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain ... Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion -- Kwasi Kwarteng * Sunday Times *A radical reappraisal of the parameters of history, exposing lacunae in the nation's version of its past -- Arifa Akbar * Guardian *Praise for The Kaiser's Holocaust [A] haunting book ... an unforgettable and unflinching account of a neglected atrocity * Sunday Telegraph *[A] provocative and uncomfortably absorbing book ... Impressively researched ... Olusoga and Erichsen, with their novelist's flair for narrative, provide a grimly readable history ... Deserves to be read widely -- Ian Thomson * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisWhy did Western countries become so much wealthier than the rest of the world? What explains the huge rise in incomes during the Industrial Revolution - and why did Britain lead the way?In the years between the Glorious Revolution and the Great Exhibition, the British economy was transformed. Joel Mokyr''s landmark history offers a wholly new perspective for understanding Britain''s extraordinary rise during the Industrial Revolution, showing how intellectual, rather than material, forces were the driving force behind it. While empire, trade, resources and other factors all played a part, above all it was the creative ferment of the Enlightenment - with its belief in progress and scientific advancement - that affected the economic behaviour of thinkers, inventors, entrepreneurs and artisans, taking Britain into the modern era.Linking ideas and beliefs to the heart of modern economic growth, The Enlightened Economy will transform the way we view the Industrial Trade ReviewHe buttresses his argument with deep knowledge of the times and massive scholarship. Everyone interested in history should read this great work. -- George A. Akerlof * University of California at Berkeley *A great economic historian gives us a sweeping perspective on a pivotal period of history: Britain during the Industrial Revolution. Tracing a long series of economic innovations and political reforms back to the ideas of the Enlightenment, Joel Mokyr shows us the foundations of the modern world. -- Roger B. Myerson * University of Chicago *Mokyr utilises deep knowledge of technological and industrial history, often narrated at the level of the individual inventor, thinker, factory owner or craftsman...[He] narrates brilliantly a rich story of modern economic growth.... Mokyr has made a deeply impressive contribution. -- David Greasley * BBC History *This is a large, learned and challenging book ... [which] anyone interested in history and the current economy needs to read -- Maxine Berg * TLS *

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Book Synopsis‘Women have won their political independence. Now is the time for them to achieve their economic freedom too.’This was the great rallying cry of the pioneers who, in 1919, created the Women’s Engineering Society. Spearheaded by Katharine and Rachel Parsons, a powerful mother and daughter duo, and Caroline Haslett, whose mission was to liberate women from domestic drudgery, it was the world’s first professional organisation dedicated to the campaign for women's rights.Magnificent Women and their Revolutionary Machines tells the stories of the women at the heart of this group – from their success in fanning the flames of a social revolution to their significant achievements in engineering and technology. It centres on the parallel but contrasting lives of the two main protagonists, Rachel Parsons and Caroline Haslett – one born to privilege and riches whose life ended in dramatic tragedy; the other who rose from humble roots to become the leading professional woman of her age and mistress of the thrilling new power of the twentieth century: electricity.In this fascinating book, acclaimed biographer Henrietta Heald also illuminates the era in which the society was founded. From the moment when women in Britain were allowed to vote for the first time, and to stand for Parliament, she charts the changing attitudes to women’s rights both in society and in the workplace.Trade Review 'A fascinating social history' Times Literary Supplement 'Well-written, vigorous... shows how Britain's female engineers were key figures in modernisation' BBC History Magazine 'At its heart, this is a group biography of the Women's Engineering Society... Yet Henrietta Heald also spins her story outward, taking in the ways in which the society's members became pioneers not just in engineering and technology but also politics, suffrage and social reform' History Revealed 'Meticulously researched... provides a fascinating account of a century of change for women' Journal of SMEE

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Book SynopsisThis 250 year-old story will fascinate lovers of Guinness beer and memorabilia as well as those interested in this remarkable family of brewers and the industrial history of Ireland's most famous export.

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Book SynopsisSunday Times BestsellerAs quintessentially British as a plate of fish and chips or a British Bulldog, the boxy, utilitarian Land Rover Defender has become an iconic part of what it is to be British.It is said that for more than half the world''s population, the first car they ever saw was a Land Rover Defender. It mirrors many of our national traits, stiff upper-lipped and slightly eccentric. The car has remained relatively unchanged for nearly seven decades and has spawned an industry that includes dozens of publications, car shows, clubs, associations and even model car collectors who dedicate their lives to the Land Rover.To understand this national love affair, Ben has travelled the length of the British Isles in a Defender, spending time with fellow Land Rover enthusiasts: from visiting Colonel Blashford-Snell, who crossed the jungles of the Darien Gap, to patrolling the streets of Belfast with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Ben has met folk who have converted theiTrade ReviewPraise for Ben Fogle: ‘Funny, entertaining and really rather inspiring, too.’ Daily Mail 'A great escapade told with refreshing frankness.' Independent on Sunday ‘Passionate and well-researched’ Tatler ‘A must-read for anyone with an interest in the history of man's relationship to dogs, regardless of breed, and Fogle's typical adventure-style storytelling keeps the narrative light and entertaining.’ Independent

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Book SynopsisChristian Wolmar has written for every national newspaper and appears frequently on TV and radio as a commentator on transport issues. His previous books include the widely acclaimed The Subterranean Railway; Fire and Steam; Blood, Iron and Gold; Engines of War; The Great Railway Revolution; To the Edge of the World; Railways and the Raj; Cathedrals of Steam; and British Rail.

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Book SynopsisThe Liverpool & Manchester Railway was Britain's first mainline, inter-city railway; opened in 1830 it was at the cutting edge of railway technology. Engineered by George Stephenson and his team - John Dixon, William Allcard, Joseph Locke - the project faced many obstacles both before and after opening, including local opposition and the choice of motive power, resulting in the Rainhill Trials of 1829. Much of the success of the line can be attributed to the excellence of its engineering but also its fleet of pioneering locomotives built by Robert Stephenson & Co. of Newcastle. This is the story of those locomotives, and the men who worked on them, at a time when the locomotive was still in its infancy. Using extensive archival research, coupled with lessons learned from operating early replica locomotives such as Rocket and Planet, Anthony Dawson explores how the locomotive rapidly developed in response to the demands of the first inter-city railway, and some of the technological dead ends along the way.

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Book SynopsisThe decaying remnants of obselete industries and defunct commerce – whether coal mines, shipyards, factories, shopping centres, power plants, warehouses or mills – lie scattered in desolate locations throughout the world. These left-over structures still hold memories of the life that was once there. Transience was built in from the start. When a mine was worked out, it was abandoned; sometimes its machinery was removed to another mine, but often it was easier to equip the new place with more up-to-date equipment. Abandoned Industrial Places explores the discarded detritus of our modern mechanized age. Discover the grand Ore Dock in Marquette, USA, squatting isolated in the waters of Lake Superior; or the abandoned Caspian Sea oil rigs and drilling gear in Azerbaijan; or the enormous, gaping pit of the 1200m (3900ft) wide Mirny diamond mine in Sakha Republic, Russia; or the 700m (765yd) high wall of latticed steel towers of the Duga radar in Chernobyl, Ukraine; or the Domino Sugar Refinery, Brooklyn, New York – formerly the world’s largest sugar refinery when built in 1882; or the still contaminated Fisher Body Plant 21 in Detroit, USA, a place where General Motors created some of their great marques for almost a hundred years. Filled with more than 200 memorable photographs from every part of the planet, Abandoned Industrial Places provides a strange and often spooky insight into the life and workings of industries long since ceased.Table of ContentsContents include: Introduction NORTH AMERICA Marquette Iron Ore Dock, Lake Superior, Michigan Canada Malting Factory, Toronto Don Valley Brickworks plant, Toronto, Ontario Gold mine, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada Old Crow Distillery, Kentucky New Cornelia open-pit copper mine, Pima County, Arizona Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California Carrie Furnace, Braddock, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Domino Sugar Refinery, Brooklyn, New York Redstone missile test site, Huntsville, Alabama Army Ammunition Plant, Indiana Mariscal Mine, River Road, Big Bend National Park, Texas CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA Santa Laura and Humberstone Saltpetre works, Atacama Desert, Chile Petermann Island, Antarctica Hacienda Yaxcopoil near Merida, Mexico, once a hemp or henequen rope factory Camilo Cienfuegos (formerly Hershey) Sugar Works, Cuba Pulacayo, Railway Depot, Potosí Province, Bolivia Leith Harbour Whaling Station, South Georgia Morgan Lewis Mill, Barbados Rincon Nuclear Dome, Puerto Rico EUROPE Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Orford Ness, Suffolk, England Beelitz, nr Berlin, Germany Excavator Factory, Voronezh, Russia Peenemünde Army Research Centre, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Glassworks, Haidemühl, Brandenburg, Germany Cattle stable, slaughterhouse, Rosenau, Bavaria, Germany Plumain Factory, New Aquitaine, France Coal washing plant, Carmeux, France Cooling Tower, Charleroi, Belgium Mill, Bolton, Lancashire, England Gauges, Flaxmill Maltings, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England Tin mine, Towanroath, Cornwall, England Concrete Pagodas, AWRE, Orford Ness, Suffolk – atomic weapons research centre Rotunda, Wola Gasworks, Warsaw, Poland Mine near Pezinok, Slovakia Sugar Factory, Belgrade, Serbia Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, Ukraine AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST Lead mine, Morocco Kolmanskop mining town, Namibia Drilling Rig, Namibia Kleinzee mining town, South Africa Vredehoek Quarry, South Africa ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Iron and Steel Mill, Loudi, Hunan, China Hashima, mining island, Japan Mirny Diamond Mine, Eastern Siberia, Russia Buran Transport, Baikonur, Kazakhstan Baikonur Cosmodrome Area 2, Kazakhstan Tin Dredge No. 5, Tanjung Tualak, Perak, Malaysia Mine equipment, Whakaari/White Island, North Island, New Zealand Cockatoo Island Docks, Sydney, Australia

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Book SynopsisAn informal, informative introduction to lead mining in the Northern Pennines.

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Book SynopsisA DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022''There is unlikely to be a fuller or more informative history of Birmingham than Vinen''s'' Jonathan Coe, Financial Times''Vinen has written a history of Birmingham, but it is also a theory of Birmingham. And also, perhaps, a theory of England. I buy it'' Daily TelegraphFor over a century, Birmingham has been the second largest town in England. In his richly enjoyable new book Richard Vinen captures the drama of a small village that grew to become the quintessential city of the twentieth century: a place of mass production and full employment that began in the 1930s, but which came to a cataclysmic halt in the 1980s. Birmingham has also been a magnet for migration, drawing in people from Wales, Ireland, India, Pakistan and the Caribbean. Indeed, much of British history can be explained, in large measure, with reference to Birmingham.Vinen roots his sweeping story in the experience of individuals. This is a book about figures everyone has heard of, from J. R. R. Tolkien to Duran Duran, and also about those that everyone ought to have heard of. It captures the ways in which hundreds of thousands of people - from the Welsh miners who poured into the car factories in the 1930s to the young women who danced to reggae in the basement of Rebecca''s nightclub in the 1980s - were caught up in the convulsions of social change.Birmingham is not a pretty place, and its history does not always make for comfortable reading. But modern Britain does not make sense without it.Trade ReviewVinen's biography of the city is a spirited attempt at uncovering the mystery of how Birmingham, in his view, has managed for so long to stand at the centre of Britain's modern industrial, economic, political and cultural history without anyone noticing... This absorbing book shows us how we did it. -- Lynsey Hanley * Observer *Richard Vinen's new history of his native city explains everything ... Vinen has written a history of Birmingham, but it is also a theory of Birmingham. And also, perhaps, a theory of England. I buy it. -- Matthew Sweet * Daily Telegraph *[A] sweeping history ... There's a much better story to be told [about Birmingham] - and it's revealed between the covers of this book. -- Pete Paphides * The Times *A superb retort to [the] slings and arrows of derision ... Birmingham's very mutability ... is the key to its survival. -- Stuart Jeffries * Spectator *Absorbing ... There is unlikely to be a fuller or more informative history of Birmingham than Vinen's. -- Jonathan Coe * Financial Times *Birmingham's ordinariness has prevented us from seeing what is extraordinary in its history. Brummies shaped our everyday world ... Vinen's book provides a template for how we might level up the way we write about England's northern and Midland cities. -- Robert Colls * Literary Review *Second City makes the case that Brum is, for all its amorphousness, England's second city, and rightly pays tribute to Joe Chamberlain for transforming it through his progressive policies in the 1870s. -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph Books of 2022 *A key text for understanding our times ... Highly recommended, truly thought provoking. -- Ruth Barbour * Open History *PRAISE FOR NATIONAL SERVICE: Written with compassion and insight, Vinen's book brilliantly recreates the atmosphere of postwar Britain. -- Tony Barber * Financial Times Books of the Year *I can't recall ever having read so unexpectedly fascinating a book... every single page has something of great interest on it. -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisLed by Erasmus Darwin, the Lunar Society of Birmingham was formed from a group of amateur experimenters, tradesmen and artisans who met and made friends in the Midlands in the 1760s. Most came from humble families, all lived far from the centre of things, but they were young and their optimism was boundless: together they would change the world. Among them were the ambitious toy-maker Matthew Boulton and his partner James Watt, of steam-engine fame; the potter Josiah Wedgwood; the larger-than-life Erasmus Darwin, physician, poet, inventor and theorist of evolution (a forerunner of his grandson Charles Darwin). Later came Joseph Priestley, discoverer of oxygen and fighting radical. Led by Erasmus Darwin they joined a small band of allies, formed the Lunar Society of Birmingham (so called because it met at each full moon) and kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Blending science, art, and commerce, the Lunar Men built canals, launched balloons, named plants, gases and miner

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Book SynopsisFrom Hope to Betrayal transports you to Rishton, a small Lancashire cotton town, in the years between the Great Wars. Inspired by true events, the heroes of this story are a group of demobbed comrades returning home from the war, full of hope for the future. Hope is an unusual thing. It can pull you out of your darkest moments, push you towards your ultimate potential, and even convince you to invest in a lost cause. In a time of turbulence and uncertainty, the people of Rishton search for meaning, and in the midst of war, pain, and hunger, hope drives them on. But the problem with hope is that it can open you up to betrayal. This story of a community explores grief, political awakenings, and pulling yourself up when life has other ideas, but the most important message is, even when it feels insurmountable, hope can always help you beat the odds. From Hope to Betrayal shows you the intricate experiences of the people of the working class, whilst giving you a taste of the people in power, and the many faces of humanity…

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Book SynopsisThe Metropolitan Railway can claim to have had an influence on the evolution of our railway system out of all proportion to its tracks reaching just forty-seven miles from London. However it was the world's first underground passenger railway, built in 1863 to ease the traffic congestion of a growing London and thus creating the first metro system. Embraced by the notorious Victorian entrepreneur Sir Edward Watkin as part of his ultimately unsuccessful ambition to link Manchester and Paris by rail, the Metropolitan decided to use Watkin's land to create the iconic Metro-land', an Arcadian form of suburbia embracing affordable housing with easy commuting to London. The brand soon became accepted as the generic description of a lifestyle and by the end of the First World War Metro-land represented the appealing factors of aspiration and affordability. This fascinating history of London's first tube line and the people involved in its evolution brings us up to date wit

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2021Shortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2021Longlisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown 2021''Fabulous'' - The Times''A milestone in women''s history'' - Observer''Groundbreaking ... a fascinating read'' - HeraldIn Britain today, three-quarters of mothers are in employment and paid work is an unremarkable feature of women's lives after childbirth. Yet a century ago, working mothers were in the minority, excluded altogether from many occupations, whilst their wage-earning was widely perceived as a social ill. In Double Lives, Helen McCarthy accounts for this remarkable transformation and the momentous consequences it has had for Britain. Recovering the everyday worlds of working mothers, this groundbreaking history forces us not only to re-evaluate the past, but to ask anew how current attitudes towards mothers in the workplace have developed and how far we have to go. ''ImTrade ReviewA fabulous new cultural history of working motherhood over the past 180 years … It is truly Big History and Helen McCarthy has rightly made mothers’ feelings and desires her central theme ... McCarthy, measured but sympathetic, has done for working mothers what the historian David Kynaston did for the 1950s -- Melanie Reid * The Times *“There are no typical lives,” Helen McCarthy writes in her impressive and nuanced study. Each is unique. But the best history writing, like hers, shows how representative the individual life is … McCarthy’s is an economic and social history, but she also wants to give “shade and texture” to what has been thought and said about working mothers. In this she succeeds magnificently -- Alison Light * Guardian *Helen McCarthy does a brilliant job of tracking the way attitudes to combining work and motherhood in the UK have changed from the nineteenth century to the present -- Vicky Pryce * Literary Review *Groundbreaking … A fascinating read * Herald *Impeccably referenced … For anyone interested not just in female employment, but in the labour market generally, it will be a valuable resource … McCarthy’s impressive mining of contemporary sources brings one face to face with grinding toil, inadequate diets, and terror of illness -- Alison Wolf * Financial Times *This is an important book … Double Lives is a forceful reminder that attitudes to working mothers change abruptly and that politics, not nature, will decide the future of female employment -- Sarah Ditum * Spectator *Authoritative in scope and calmly judged, but with an ear for voices and an eye for detail, Double Lives is the history we have long wanted of a subject still freighted with emotion and misunderstanding -- David KynastonCarefully researched, stylishly written and highly entertaining. The story is rich with female pioneers. McCarthy’s “women of the world” stand as a reminder that, for many women, ours is a world which has not yet been won -- Praise for 'Women of the World' * Sunday Telegraph *Vivid and engaging. Complexities come out beautifully in the lives recovered in this book -- Praise for 'Women of the World' * Guardian *As McCarthy eloquently argues in this important book full of brilliant vignettes, fighting to the top is usually harder for a woman -- Praise for 'Women of the World' * Independent *

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Book SynopsisAn illustrated history of Britain’s coal mines and the lives of the miners who worked in them. Coal heated the homes, fuelled the furnaces and powered the engines of the Industrial Revolution. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the coalfields – distinct landscapes of colliery winding frames, slag heaps and mining villages – made up Britain’s industrial heartlands. Coal was known as ‘black gold’ but it was only brought to the surface with skill and at considerable risk, with flooding, rock falls and gas explosions a constant danger. Coal miners became a recognised force in British political life, forming a vociferous and often militant lobby for better working conditions and a decent standard of living. This beautifully illustrated guide to Britain’s industrial heritage covers not just the mines, but the lives of the workers away from the pits, with a focus on the cultural and religious life of mining communities.Trade ReviewA glossy publication with plenty of full-colour photos and other illustrations. At £7.99, this is great value for illuminating the lives of your coal-mining kin. * Who Do You Think You Are Magazine *Table of ContentsBlack Gold Bell Pits and Horse Whims Deep Mining Going Underground The Pit Village Places to Visit Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisHave you ever watched wagon after wagon of a goods train thunder past and wondered where it is heading, what it is carrying, and how it works its way between the passenger services? While goods services now tend to be shrouded in anonymity, in past times they were celebrated, prominently advertised, and in many cases were the raisons d’être for a rail route. Throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century, goods trains were the lifeblood of the nation, transporting precious raw materials, construction and industrial items, and fresh produce from coastal areas and farms into the centres of bustling cities. This informative illustrated history shows how rail freight has been carried since Victorian times, and how systems have been organized, from the train itself to the sidings, railway clearing houses, goods sheds and final destinations – whether villages, towns, cities, factories or docks. It also examines the basic rolling stock of these trains, from the humble coal wagon to today’s hi-tech containers.Trade ReviewA remarkably informative work of reference. * Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society *Table of ContentsIntroduction A Brief History of Railway Goods Operation The Development of Goods Trains Goods Infrastructure Wagons and Loads Further Reading Places to Visit Index

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Book SynopsisIn late eighteenth-century Britain a handful of men brought about the greatest transformation in human history. Inventors, industrialists and entrepreneurs ushered in the age of powered machinery and the factory, and thereby changed the whole of human society, bringing into being new methods of social and economic organisation, new social classes, and new political forces. The Industrial Revolution also dramatically altered humanity's relation to the natural world and embedded the belief that change, not stasis, is the necessary backdrop for human existence.Iron, Steam and Money tells the thrilling story of those few decades, the moments of inspiration, the rivalries, skulduggery and death threats, and the tireless perseverance of the visionaries who made it all happen. Richard Arkwright, James Watt, Richard Trevithick and Josiah Wedgwood are among the giants whose achievements and tragedies fill these pages. In this authoritative study Roger Osborne also shows how and why the revolution happened, revealing pre-industrial Britain as a surprisingly affluent society, with wealth spread widely through the population, and with craft industries in every town, village and front parlour. The combination of disposable income, widespread demand for industrial goods, and a generation of time-served artisans created the unique conditions that propelled humanity into the modern world.The industrial revolution was arguably the most important episode in modern human history; Iron, Steam and Money reminds us of its central role, while showing the extraordinary excitement of those tumultuous decades.Trade ReviewAbly handling a mass of material, Osborne explores both the technological side of his subject and its human aspect -- Christopher Smith * UK Regional Press Syndication *Osborne fires [the Industrial Revolution] up with great gusto -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *Detailed and scholarly -- Steve Craggs * UK Regional Press Syndication *A truly rattling good yarn -- Jonathan Glancey * Country Life *Detailed and scholarly * UK Regional Press Syndication *

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Book SynopsisIn 1789 Hannah Lightbody, a well-educated and intelligent young woman of means, married Samuel Greg and found herself at the centre of his cotton empire in the industrial heart of England. Over the next four decades she fought to improve the education, health and welfare of cotton girls and pauper apprentices at the mill.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisNew paperback edition - Esteemed historian Jeremy Black examines the technological, social, political and economic reasons for the industrial revolution taking place in Britain.

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Book SynopsisA stunning collection of rare photographs documenting the last years of industrial steam around the world.

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Book SynopsisA Secret History of Brands cuts through the rumours and urban legends and paints a picture of the true dark history of famous brands.

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Book SynopsisThe true, unvarnished history of the town at the heart of Silicon Valley.Palo Alto is nice. The weather is temperate, the people are educated, rich, healthy, enterprising. Remnants of a hippie counterculture have synthesized with high technology and big finance to produce the spiritually and materially ambitious heart of Silicon Valley, whose products are changing how we do everything from driving around to eating food. It is also a haunted toxic waste dump built on stolen Indian burial grounds, and an integral part of the capitalist world system. In Palo Alto, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to the "tragedy of the commons," racial genetics, and "broken windows" theory. The Internet and computers, too. It's a story about how a small American suburb became a powerful engine for economic growth and war, and how it came to lead the world into a surprisingly disastrous 21st century.Palo Alto is an urgent and visionary history of the way we live now, one that ends with a clear-eyed, radical proposition for how we might begin to change course.Trade ReviewHarris's earlier book Kids These Days was a broad cultural history of millennials, zeroing in on the unfair economic stereotypes that have dogged the generation. Now, he tells an ambitious story of Silicon Valley, showing how its specific culture and history allowed it to become the site of both breathtaking technological advancement and capitalist exploitation. * Joumana Khatib, NEW YORK TIMES *Unsparing... Its narrative has the intoxifying capitalist rush of The Lehman Trilogy... Uneasily compelling * The Spectator *Cathartic and illuminating... readers will leave this book gifted with a trove of information, a lurch in their stomach, and a sense of foreboding about the future * Irish Independent *

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Book Synopsis__________________________'The universal significance of this historic event becomes ever more relevant in our own turbulent times.' MIKE LEIGH, director of the award-winning film Peterloo__________________________The Peterloo Massacre is a revealing and compelling account of one of the darkest days in Britain's social history.On 16 August 1819, a strong force of yeomanry and regular cavalry charged into a crowd of more than 100,000 workers who had gathered on St Peter’s Field in Manchester for a meeting about Parliamentary reform.Many were killed. This violent, startling event became known as Peterloo, one of the darkest days in Britain’s social history.The Peterloo Massacre provides a revealing narrative account of the events leading up to Peterloo, starkly describes the actions of that fateful day, and examines its aftermath. It offers a new perspective on the political and military activities of the time, and shows how the very nature of society was powerfully influenced by irreversible technological change: a pattern that, two-hundred years later, still has relevance in understanding the forces shaping our world today.__________________________'One of our nation's defining moments.' STUART MACONIE'Vivid and rather brilliant.' THE TIMES'an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompetence, betrayal and brutality, told with the skill of a master craftsman who makes history leap from the page fresh as the morning’s newspapers' EVENING CHRONICLE'There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Robert Reid’s description and analysis of the role and effects of technology, and I hope his book will be widely read. It should be in every school library and discussed by all those involved in the continuing search for civilised solutions to the social and political problems currently facing our people.' CAMDEN JOURNALTrade ReviewVivid and rather brilliant. * The Times *The Peterloo Massacre is an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompetence, betrayal and brutality, told with the skill of a master craftsman who makes history leap from the page fresh as the morning’s newspapers . . . Mr Reid’s definitive account of Peterloo is splendidly written. * Evening Chronicle *There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Rober Reid’s description and analysis of the role and effects of technology, and I hope his book will be widely read. It should be in every school library and discussed by all those involved in the continuing search for civilised solutions to the social and political problems currently facing our people. * Camden Journal *[A] magnificent volume of dramatic history. * Manchester Evening News *From an awe-inspiring range of sources Dr Reid has constructed a narrative that reads like a political thriller in which numerous threads are drawn together in the bloody climax. Each character is fleshed out with his ambitions, abilities and achievements . . . [A] devastatingly comprehensive epic . . . The book will inform and invigorate anyone with an interest in history, drawing intriguing parallels with contemporary ideology. * Newbury Weekly News *

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Book SynopsisThis is a fascinating combination of biographical material about the great Scottish engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834), and a modern travelogue that revisits the places in the Highlands and Islands where he worked over a period of 20 years. Scotland was provided with desperately-needed civil infrastructure - nearly 1000 miles of roads, 1200 bridges, many harbours, and the monumental Caledonian Canal. Telford's programme of work was one of the greatest sustained efforts by any individual in the years of Britain's industrial revolution. And yet it is little celebrated in Scotland, let alone the rest of Britain and the wider world. After working in England and Wales for nearly 20 years, Telford was called back to his native land to address huge problems in the Highlands and Islands. These included unemployment, depopulation, Highlanders dispirited by poverty and suppression following the two Jacobite uprisings, compounded by living in mountainous regions almost totally isolated from the rest of Scotland. Thomas Telford has been widely painted as a brilliant engineer totally devoted to his work, a somewhat one-dimensional character. However, the author shows him differently, as a man of the Scottish Enlightenment, a rounded character with a love of poetry and the natural world, a good companion and a generous friend. A Scotsman Returns reveals him as a person who, in spite of the humblest start in life, displayed great social skills in his dealings with Scots both haughty and humble during his 20-year commitment to the Highlands and Islands. The author retraces an extensive Highland Tour made by Telford and the Poet Laureate, Robert Southey, in 1819. The two men were drawn together by Telford's love of poetry and Southey's admiration of the engineer's remarkable work in the Highlands. Southey kept a journal of the tour, which remained unpublished for a century and is still not widely known. Comments on the places they visited, the sights they saw, their social interactions, and Southey's intelligent interest in Telford's roadmaking, bridgebuilding and, above all, the Caledonian Canal are featured. Telford's work in other areas of the Highlands and Islands is also covered, principally in Caithness, Sutherland, and the Hebridean Islands. There are further discussions of the social and political environment in which Telford operated, including the Highland Clearances. This travelogue, beautifully illustrated in full colour with over 100 photographs of Telford's surviving infrastructure, is complemented with modern views of the places where he worked. A Scotsman Returns is a wonderful collection of Telford's remarkable achievements and will encourage readers worldwide to explore the routes followed by Telford as he developed Highland infrastructure.

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Book SynopsisGwynedd - the north-west quadrant of Wales - is particularly rich in the archaeology of the industrial and modern periods. It was once the major producer of roofing slates worldwide, and for a while it dominated the international trade in copper ore. This is the first comprehensive study of the industrial archaeology of this fascinating region, and takes a wide-ranging view of its scope and nature. The mines, quarries and narrow-gauge railways for which the area is famous are covered in detail, as are well-known works of engineering such as the Menai and Britannia bridges. Also explored are lesser-known industries such as textile production, electricity generation and metal-processing, and other economic activities such as agriculture, which are not generally considered to be part of the industrial landscape.Using a wide range of fascinating evidence, the author tells the remarkable story of the society which evolved in Gwynedd, with its vigorous minority language and its radical politics. The legacies of industrial housing, churches and chapels, along with retailing and consumer goods, are all examined within the broader context of a globalising economy. This attractive volume will appeal to residents and local historians alike. In addition, anyone concerned with emerging issues in archaeology, such as the relationship between documentary, artefact and landscape evidence, the ways of reading the cultural landscape, the regional dimension to worldwide change, and the ways in which we approach the past through its material remains, will find this pioneering study of interest.

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Book SynopsisAmerican Muscle Cars features stunning historic and contemporary photography and offers a thorough chronology of this classic car's evolution from the 1960s to the present.Trade Review"Author Darwin Holmstrom expertly tells the story in an informative and interesting way that make this book fun to read. Darwin's expertise is drawn from his experience of having written, co-written, or contributed to over thirty books with car or motorcycle subjects. The excellent text is matched with 260 color and 55 black and white photos. Dozens of original factory photos are complimented by the work of well-known automotive photographer Tom Glatch. Glatch's large, high quality photos bring these colorful muscle cars to life." * Examiner.com *"Not just another coffee-table picture book, this is a thorough, well-researched, multi-brand history of American performance." * Muscle Car Review *"Holmstrom and Glatch churn up the memories in their book with some great factory archive information with no shortage of photographs." * San Diego Union Tribune *"American Muscle Cars is a fantastic book, sized perfectly for any coffee table. The writing is informative yet thrillingly engaging, creating an extremely rare occurrence: a coffee-table book that is still fun to read straight through. Holmstrom is often irreverent (note the "clackers" use mentioned above), but is so in a charming, funny way which allows him to simply say what he means—the best example is when describing what post-WWII babies wanted from their cars: sex appeal. Overall, American Muscle Cars is a well-written, well-laid-out, entertaining read that would be a joyful addition to any auto enthusiasts' book collection." * TheNewsWheel.com *"Auto enthusiast Darwin Holmstrom says that when he was growing up in the Midwest, boys his age were just as interested in muscle cars - sporty models with powerful engines - as they were in girls. New 52, he laments the demise of the vehicles. His new book "American Muscle Cars" (Motorbooks, $50), offers a history, including classics like the Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. Their equivalents today are more sophisticated luxury vehicles like the Aston Martin or Maserati. But for Mr. Holmstrom, they just aren't the same. "A real muscle car doesn't have 19 air bags," he says. "It just has a big, powerful engine that makes your heart stop every time you stomp on the accelerator." * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisThe story of the world’s first working-class cityTrade Review"Epic new book charts city's long history.""Book gets under the city's skin and reveals just what makes it tick."

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Book SynopsisFor two centuries, England led the world in the manufacture of chain and anchors, and at the end of the nineteenth century the majority of all the chain workshops in England and Wales were based in the Black Country, notably Cradley, Cradley Heath, Old Hill, Quarry Bank and Netherton. Most of the chainshops were very small (many of them were to be found in the backyards of the workers'' houses), and a large number of the chain makers were women. The largest firm was Noah Hingley''s, which manufactured the anchors and anchor cables of the ill-fated Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, while Samuel Taylor of Brierley Hill forged the anchors for the famous Cunard Queen liners. Including personal reminiscences, photographs and sketches, Chain and Anchor Making in the Black Country is a fascinating and authoritative record of this largely vanished industry. This book will appeal to anyone interested in the Black Country or in this important part of its history.

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Book SynopsisEmpire of Guns expertly brings to life a bustling industrial society with a human story at its heart to offer a radically new understanding of a critical historical moment and all that followed from it.Trade Review'A fascinating study of the centrality of militarism in 18th-century British life, and how imperial expansion and arms went hand in hand... This book is a triumph' Guardian'A fascinating and important glimpse into how violence fueled the industrial revolution, Priya Satia's book stuns with deep scholarship and sparkling prose' Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies'Satia's detailed retelling of the Industrial Revolution and Britain's relentless empire expansion notably contradicts simple free market narratives... She argues convincingly that the expansion of the armaments industry and the government's role in it is inseparable from the rise of innumerable associated industries from finance to mining... Fascinating' New York Times'Satia marshals an overwhelming amount of evidence to show, comprehensively, that guns had a place at the center of every conventional tale historians have so far told about the origins of the modern, industrialized world... This book leaves us with the disquieting notion that guns - whether the slow and inaccurate weapons of the eighteenth century or today's models - do more than alternately cloak or explore human inclination towards violence. They also shape it' New Republic'A richly researched and probing historical narrative that challenges our understanding of the engines that drove Britain’s industrial revolution. With this book, Priya Satia... affirms her place as a deeply captivating and thought-provoking historian' Caroline Elkins, Pulitzer Prize winner for Imperial Reckoning'An important revisionist account of the industrial revolution... a revelatory book' Sven Beckert, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Empire of Cotton

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Book SynopsisIt is more than 200 years since the world's first steam railway locomotive hauled its initial load of iron ore and passengers on a short, slow journey. From that time onwards, the evolution of the steam locomotive continued unabated through the 19th century and on into the 20th.Steam haulage on Britain's nationalised railways ended in 1968, yet the British public's love affair with these magnificent machines endures. In this volume you'll find:Features on 100 of the most impressive British steam locomotivesStories of the fascinating engineers who designed themBeautiful imagery from the country's leading railway photographersWritten by best-selling railway author Julian Holland, Britain's Steam Locomotives is the perfect addition to any railway enthusiast's collection.

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Book SynopsisNewly opened by Queen Elizabeth II herself, discover the history and secret stories of the people who''ve lived above London''s newest trainline.Crossrail, or the ''Elizabeth'' line, is just the latest way of traversing the very old east-west route through the former countryside, into the capital, and out again. Throughout The Tunnel Through Time, renowned historian Gillian Tindall uncovers the lives of those who walked this ancient path. These people spoke the names of ancient farms, manors and slums that now belong to our squares and tube stations. Visiting Stepney, Liverpool Street, Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, Tindall traces the course of many of these historical journeys across time as well as space. ''Enchanting'' Sunday Telegraph''Deftly weaves together archaeology, social history, politics, myth, religion and philosophy'' The Times''Fully of lively vignettes'' SpectatorTrade ReviewTindall has an eye for a good line. Her sources are eclectic and illuminating...The Tunnel Through Time is a book to savour. It is subtle, considered and powerfully evocative of London's "changeful" landscape. * Daily Telegraph *Tindall is a sure-footed, even revelatory guide to the treasures of London that Crossrail has unintentionally brought to our notice. -- Jerry White * Guardian *In this engaging book Gillian Tindall ... a veteran historian with an eye for the macabre, the quirky and the absurd ... deftly weaves together archaeology, social history, politics, myth, religion and philosophy -- Richard Morrison * The Times *Ms Tindall skilfully blends ancient histories, archaeological findings and contemporary context * The Economist *These underground stories remind us that buried spaces are places of protection as well as of the fearfully unknown, of hope and of political resistance, of science as well as of persistently chthonic mythology. There’s always a quirky and sometimes a grisly journey to be had beneath our streets * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisJust days into the miners'' strike of 1984-1985, a few women in coalfield communities around Britain began to meet to consider how they could support the strike, a clash with the Thatcher government over the future of the coal industry. Women ultimately formed a national network of groups that some observers saw as an ''alternative welfare state'', helping to keep the strike going for just under a year. This book is the first study of this national movement, illuminating its achievements, but also telling the less well-known story of arguments and divisions with men in the National Union of Mineworkers and feminists in the women''s liberation movement. Many women in the movement, despite their activism, resolutely denied that they were ''political'' at all, defining themselves as ''ordinary'' women, housewives, mothers, and workers; and, despite some claims that women activists had been transformed for ever by their experiences, most of those involved felt they had been changed only inTable of Contents1: Introduction 2: Before the strike 3: Early days: Spring 1984 4: High noon: Summer 1984 5: Crisis and drift: Autumn 1984 6: Flood back to defeat: Winter 1984-1985 7: Aftermath 8: Remembering the strike Appendix I: Details of project interviewees Appendix II: Details of key sociological studies of the strike and aftermath Appendix III: Chronology

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Book SynopsisThe discourse around derelict, former industrial and military sites has grown in recent years. This interest is not only theoretical, and landscape professionals are taking new approaches to the design and development of these sites. This book examines the varied ways in which the histories and qualities of these derelict sites are reimagined in the transformed landscape and considers how such approaches can reveal the dramatic changes that have been wrought on these places over a relatively short time scale. It discusses these issues with reference to eleven sites from the UK, Germany, the USA, Australia and China, focusing specifically on how designers incorporate evidence of landscape change, both cultural and natural. There has been little research into how these developed landscapes are perceived by visitors and local residents. This book examines how the tangible material traces of pastness are interpreted by the visitor and the impact of the intangible elements - hidden traces, experiences and memories. The book draws together theory in the field and implications for practice in landscape architecture and concludes with an examination of how different approaches to revealing and reimagining change can affect the future management of the site.Trade Review"The complex legacy of post-industrial and military landscapes presents ecological challenges across the world today, requiring close scrutiny and imaginative responses. Catherine Heatherington’s fine-grained exploration of the successful recuperation of the former gun-ranges at Rainham Marshes near London, along with other case studies, provides essential insights into how best to approach this new landscape condition. The book provides an invaluable resource for those who now manage such derelict and neglected sites and, ultimately, for the wider public - for whom they are the new landscapes of leisure and environmental renewal." Ken Worpole, Emeritus Professor, Cities Institute, London Metropolitan University, UKTable of ContentsPreamble1. Introduction 2. The qualities of derelict, underused and neglected sites 3. Eleven landscapes and their qualities 4. Designing to reveal change ‘Musing on the tracks – the first interlude 5. Perceptions of material and spatial qualities in developed sites ‘Temporalities at Orford Ness’ – the second interlude 6. Perceptions of temporal qualities in developed sites ‘My memories at Bentwaters’ - the third interlude 7. Perceptions of the qualities and their impact on memories 8. Implications for practice 9. Managing change

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Book SynopsisChallenging current perspectives of urbanisation, The Routledge History Handbook of Gender and the Urban Experience explores how our towns and cities have shaped and been shaped by cultural, spatial and gendered influences. This volume discusses gender in an urban context in European, North American and colonial towns from the fourteenth to the twentieth century, casting new light on the development of medieval and modern settlements across the globe.Organised into six thematic parts covering economy, space, civic identity, material culture, emotions and the colonial world, this book comprises 36 chapters by key scholars in the field. It covers a wide range of topics, from women and citizenship in medieval York to gender and tradition in nineteenth- and twentieth-century South African cities, reframing our understanding of the role of gender in constructing the spaces and places that form our urban environment.Interdisciplinary and transnatiTrade Review'In a rich super-collection of 36 essays plus introductions, this Routledge History Handbook offers exciting fare for readers of diverse geographical and temporal interests. Sweeping across Europe, including several of its less familiar northern domains, and reaching out to some of its distant colonies, the anthology spans six centuries. Fruitful coherence and lots of striking fresh insights emerge from the sustained focus on a novel intersection of two themes: gender, both as ideas and in persons, and urban experiences and spaces.'Elizabeth S. Cohen, York University, Canada 'In a rich super-collection of 36 essays plus introductions, this Routledge History Handbook offers exciting fare for readers of diverse geographical and temporal interests. Sweeping across Europe, including several of its less familiar northern domains, and reaching out to some of its distant colonies, the anthology spans six centuries. Fruitful coherence and lots of striking fresh insights emerge from the sustained focus on a novel intersection of two themes: gender, both as ideas and in persons, and urban experiences and spaces.'Elizabeth S. Cohen, York University, Canada 'Simonton ... presents an exciting body of work that simultaneously offers broad overviews and detailed microâ-studies.'Jennifer Aston, The Economic History Review'Overall, the Handbook is a vast and empirically rich collection of essays, which is a valuable resource for researchers, and will undoubtedly be informative for both scholarship and teaching. Students interested in gender, urban history and their relationship will also find much here, and will particularly benefit from the helpful advice for further reading included at the end of the book. The collection makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the gendering of urban experiences, spaces, and places, and what ultimately resonates throughout the volume is the exciting range and variety of current work on gender in an urban context.'Laura Harrison, Women's History Review

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Book SynopsisNew insights into one of the most important episodes in British labour historyTrade Review'Fascinating ... reminds us, with passion and vigor, of the years of political and trade union organisation of the English workers' movement on the eve of the Great War. Unmissable’ -- Raquel Varela, labour historian, professor at FCSH-Universidade Nova de Lisboa and author of ‘A People's History of Europe: From World War 1 to Today’'A timely warning from history. Rising poverty and strike action. Collective bargaining, a tool for managing workers discontent. Westminster failing workers. An active rank & file holding unions accountable. All vital lessons we must apply during this current period of unrest' -- Henry Fowler and Robert Poole, Co-Founders, Strike Map'Based on meticulous historical research, this important study refutes once again the myth of working-class 'quiescence'. Addressing the remarkable eruption and trajectory of the great Labour Revolt in the years before World War I, Ralph Darlington reconstructs the many forms of autonomous worker resistance and its entanglement with trade union officialdom, as well as close links to radical socialist politics ... Provides a highly significant new contribution to the analysis of the limits and potential of industrial militancy and its relationship to political action and organisation' -- Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam'In the first book-length study of the 1910–14 labour revolt, Ralph Darlington convincingly conveys the breadth, depth, and limitations of its many strike movements. Within ten years, British politics, trade unionism, and industrial relations would be transformed' -- Dave Lyddon, Keele University, founding editor of 'Historical Studies in Industrial Relations''Drawing on modern historical research, Darlington depicts a broad working-class revolt in which radical activists played an important catalysing role. In discussing both the successes and the failures of the movement, he demonstrates its continued contemporary relevance' -- Richard Hyman, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations, Founding Editor, 'European Journal of Industrial Relations', Fellow of the British Academy‘Details a great moment in British and Irish working-class history, one where fundamental change seemed possible.’ -- ‘Counterfire’‘Incisive, erudite’ -- ‘Times Literary Supplement’Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction Part I BACKCLOTH 1. Contexts and Causes 2. Influence of the Left Part II REVOLT 3. Scope, Harbingers and Springboard 4. Spirit of Revolt 5. Gathering Momentum 6. Diversity of Struggles 7. Challenges and Expectations Part III ASSESSMENT 8. Rank-and-File/Union Official Dynamic 9. Striking Organisation 10. Countermobilisation and Violence 11. Political Radicalisation 12. Industrial Militancy and the Radical Left Part IV AFTERMATH 13. Dénouement, Sequel and Political Legacy Tables Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis fascinating pictorial history takes a look back at the days when Fife was home to a wide variety of traditional industries, including mining, farming, fishing, pottery and textile factories, shipping and shipbuilding.

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Book SynopsisThe most comprehensive history of Portsmouth Dockyard ever published

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Book SynopsisHow the American airship came within a hair’s breadth of replacing planes, trains, and ocean liners as dominant long-distance transportTrade ReviewTotally captivating. A fascinating account of glory and tragedy that soars with suspense. I enjoyed the hell out of it! -- Dirk CusslerWhen Giants Ruled the Sky examines the successes, problems and controversies of the American rigid airship program bringing the industrialists and engineers who designed and built them, and the officers and men who flew them, to life. No airship fancier’s library should be without a copy. -- Tom CrouchIt’s too often forgotten that for a few short years the U.S. Navy actually possessed flying aircraft carriers and the world’s greatest airship fleet. In his latest book, John Geoghegan has performed sterling service in excavating the astounding story of the Akron and the Macon from the tomb of lost history. -- Alexander RoseA well-researched history of the rigid airship “carrier” during the interwar years of U.S. naval aeronautics. A genuine contribution. -- William AlthoffThe best book focused upon the USS Akron & Macon published in the last 55 years! -- C.P. Hall

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive history of the industries of the Granite City of Aberdeen

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Book SynopsisIn 1929, 63 per cent of the working population of Burnley was involved in the industry. This fascinating work, illustrated with over 90 images, explores the history of this industry which was so central to the economy of Burnley. The author includes detailed histories of the 140 mills of Burnley, as well as stories of the weavers themselves and their families.

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