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Turn and Burn - New ReleaseMike LeddraThe Development of Coal Mining and the Railways in the North East of EnglandThe North East of England is arguably the centre for the development of coal mining techniques and the birth-place of steam locomotives and railways, two industries that worked hand-in-hand to feed an insatiable demand for coal during and after the industrial revolution/ The geology and geography of the area led to the combination of available coal (initially close to the surface) good river transportation to the coast and a growing market for coal-on both sides of the North Sea. This drove landed gentry, industrialists, and inventors, to develop new and more cost-effective ways of mining and transporting an ever increasing volume of coal to market. ISBN: 9781906832001 RRP: 8.95 Buy this book online |
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Colour Blind? Race and Migration in North East England Since 1945 - New ReleaseThe North East was long seen as a region that did things differently; where the post-war generations of migrants from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China were welcomed warmly, with a kindness absent from their treatment in London ad elsewhere in Britain. But to what extent was this true? If it was true, to what extent was this experience shaped by the memory of previous migrations, including the migration of large numbers of Irish people to the region in the last decades of the nineteenth century, or the arrival of large numbers of Yemenis in South Shields from the 1890’s onwards? And to what extent, equally have attitudes of sympathy survived the decimation of manufacturing industry in the 1980’s, and the redevelopment and re-branching of the region from the 1990’s onwards? Based on interviews and new material found in the region’s archives, this book tells the story of migration from the perspective of those who experienced it. In so far as the region has been open to migrants, this book argues, that welcome has been decisively shaped by cultures of occupation and class. It is from the reinvigoration of these traditions that the best hope lies. Dave Renton is a former Research Fellow of the University of Sunderland and now Visiting Professor of the University of Johannesburg. His other books include When We Touched the Sky: The Anti-Nazi League 1977-1982
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Essays on Modern Irish Literature - New ReleaseEdited by John Strachan and Alison O’Malley-YoungerIn order to understand modern Ireland, it is necessary to know modern Irish literature. The complex cultural and political history of Ireland resounds through its poetry, drama and prose. This book addresses the rich literary culture of modern Ireland, from its foundation in W.B.Yeats and James Joyce, to the writing of Louis MacNeice, Brian Friel, William Trevor and Seamus Heaney, through to the contemporary work of Derek Mahon, Tom Paulin, Roddy Doyle, Anne Devlin and Colum McCann. The book builds on the success of the ongoing international Irish Studies conferences hosted by the University of Sunderland, founded in 2002. It presents new work by a number of scholars who have contributed to these conferences and to the work of the North East Irish Culture Network (NEICN). Essays on Modern Irish Literature has an international focus, with essays by academics from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, North America and Asia. Some of the essays are by leading figures in the field, and others by younger scholars who are changing the face of modern Irish Studies.ISBN: 1873757864 RRP: £12.95 |
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A Copper Farthing - Sir William Petty and his Times 1623-1687 - New ReleaseThomas E JordanLife in seventeenth-century Britain was a series of upheavals. The most obvious erupted across the political landscape, as ideologies clashed and med died by the axe and the sword. Less immediately visible but, in the end, more radical was the change in mind-set, as people began to see their world in new ways. The authority of the ancients in philosophy, medicine, and science diminished. It yielded to an emerging mind-set in which quantity, number, and proportion were increasingly valued in several fields. Reality became more secular, and the heavens became mechanical and predictable, a formulation emerging from observation and calculation. The men engaged in these transitions were few, and they often knew each other. John Milton served Oliver Cromwell and Robert Boyle sponsored Robert Hooke – who worked with Christopher Wren. At mid-century, the Royal Society connected the distractible John Aubrey and the meticulous Isaac Newton. A man who exemplified the intellectual ferment of the era and who knew many of these Virtuosi personally is the subject of this book. Throughout his life Sir William Petty (1623-1687) pursued intellectual and entrepreneurial themes. On occasion an abrasive and grasping man, he was also amusing. His intellectual life was rich, and he was a pioneer in the analysis of social and economic matters. Petty knew the great men of his age, and his life provides perspective on his times. Through the progression of his life, we see people, events and places refracted with clarity amidst plague, fire, and the tragedy which was Ireland.ISBN: 1873757260 RRP: £12.95 |
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From Tyne to Tsar a cargo steamer’s voyage in 1905 - New ReleaseArthur McClellandIn March 1905, in the heyday of the British merchant marine, the Sunderland-built SS Salient set out on her maiden voyage, which was to last nearly three months. She carried Tyne coal from South Shields to Genoa and brought back grain from the Ukraine to Rotterdam. This eye-witness day-by-day narrative covers experiences at sea and explorations ashore. It includes glimpses of contemporary life in Genoa, in Tsarist Russia, in Constantinople, and in the Low Countries. Illustrations include 30 photographs taken during the trip, other contemporary photographs, maps, the original plans of the ship, and a facsimile of the crew list for the voyage. Explanatory and background information has been added by Professor Grigor McClelland.ISBN: 9781873757215 RRP: £7.95 Buy this book online |