THE SHADOW OF THE MINE

The Shadow of the Mine tells the story of King Coal in its heyday the heroics and betrayals of the Miners Strike and what happened to mining communities after the last pits closed No one personified the age of industry more than the miners Coal was central to the British economy powering its factories and railways It carried political weight too In the eighties the miners risked everything in a year long strike against Thatcher s shutdowns Their defeat doomed a way of life The lingering sense of abandonment in former mining communities would be difficult to overstate Yet recent electoral politics has revolved around the coalfield constituencies in Labour s Red Wall Huw Beynon and Ray Hudson draw on decades of research to chronicle these momentous changes through the words of the people who lived through them This edition includes a new postscript on why Thatcher s war on the miners wasn t good for green politics Excellent NEW STATESMAN Brilliant TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT Enlightening GUARDIAN