First published in 1986, The Transformation of Britain, 1830–1939 delves into the significant changes that occurred across the landscape and society of Britain during this prominent age of reform and innovation.The book traces the rapid increase in the pace and scale of change across Britain, and explores the key developments that occurred. It examines the changes in population as more people moved towards towns and cities; the growth in industry and trade and the resultan...

First published in 2006. This book is based on research into estate records and studies around the three broad categories of landowners: peers, gentry, and freeholders. Landed property was the foundation of eighteenth-century society. The soil itself yielded the nation its sustenance and most of its raw materials, and provided the population with its most extensive means of employment; and the owners of the soil derived from its consequence and wealth the right to govern.

Traces the rise and fall of rural England from the Middle Ages to the Second World War and the nature of the changes which have occurred.

First published in 1970, Britain and America 1850–1939 is a key text for anyone seeking to trace and interpret the development of the two great trans-Atlantic economies.The authors present a comparative survey of the economic development of Britain and America. The book compares and contrasts the economic and social progress of the two countries in the period of rapid industrialization and dramatic social change between 1850 and 1939. Throughout, the authors explain the in...

First published in 1989, The Vanishing Countryman investigates how farmers, farm workers, and other country crafts- and tradespeople have fared in response to significant changes across the British countryside in the past one hundred years.The book explores the move towards large-scale and capital-intensive farming, and the conflict between increased production and damage to the environment. It looks at the decline in the number of farm workers, crafts- and tradespeople. I...

First published in 1989 The Unquiet Countryside chronicles rural crime and unrest in the English countryside from seventeenth century down to the end of the Victorian era. The authors highlight some of the most striking aspects of the countryside of the past: the extent and nature of rural crime and protest; riots over food; the Swing riots of 1830; poaching, arson, and animal maiming; the relations between landowners and the rural community; and the eventual new outlet for farmwo...

This book, first published in 1989, recounts the changing perceptions of the countryside throughout the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, helping us to understand more fully the issues that have influenced our view of the ideal countryside, past and present. Some of the chapters are concerned with ways in which Victorian artists, poets, and prose writers portrayed the countryside of their day; others with the landowners’ impressive and costly country houses, and their prettification of ...

Enclosure transformed the old open fields and common lands of England to create the modern rural landscape. It changed forever the life of many villages, but provided food for a rapidly rising population. Its methods and consequences were controversial - many rural poor lost their access to land - and the subject is still a cause of dispute. Gordon Mingay's authoritative survey guides the reader through the complexities of the topic. He describes the processes by which land was reorganised...

The biography Rum and Coal, written by Chris Wright, tells Ken's story. From his humble Aussie working-class beginnings, his journey to creating a coal mining empire, the unexpected challenges along the way, and finally, the fateful flight that instantly took his and ten other lives.Ken's personal notes, written as a blueprint for his success, generously provided interviews with family, colleagues and friends that knew him best, factual insights into business dealings and negotiati...

In this unique collection of poetry and prose, twenty-two contributors from diverse fields and countries respond to the climate crisis with voices of honesty and care. Each chapter pairs a personal poetic lament with a reflective essay that reveals the author’s connection to place, and to the wider world community. These laments are grounded in the particular, yet they speak to the shared grief of a planet in distress. Drawing on the insights of theologian Walter Brueggemann, the editors w...

Mick Mathews has enviable outback skills, and when international criminals invade his personal space, it forces him to outwit nefarious, highly trained drug runners. Alexandra Beaumont, a university biology student, drives to Pilbara in Western Australia to study unique flora and fauna. Alex finds out all too soon that the outback is not for the fainthearted. Initially, Mick and she collide. Mick sees Alex as a potential hazard, a worrying liability. However, Alex has some unique skills of...