Susan Whyman's latest book tells the story of William Hutton, a self-taught workman who rose to prominence during the Industrial Revolution in the rapidly-expanding city of Birmingham. This book brings to life a cast of 'rough diamonds', people of worth and character, but lacking in manners and education, who improved their towns and themselves.

William Hutton (1723-1815) was a poet and the first significant historian of Birmingham, England. In 1756 he opened a paper warehouse, the first in Birmingham, which became profitable. He built a country house on Bennetts Hill in Washwood Heath, and bought a house in High Street. He published History of Birmingham in 1782 and was also elected as Fellow of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland (F. A. S. S.). His houses were destroyed in the Birmingham Riots in 1791 (the Priestley Riots) leading to his historical account in Narrative of the Riots. In 1801 he is generally held to be the first person in modern times to walk the entire length of Hadrian's Wall, producing an account of his journey in The History of the Roman Wall (1813). He completed his autobiography The life of William Hutton (1816) just before his death. His other works include The Barbers (1793), Edgar and Elfrida; or, The Power of Beauty (1793), Courts of Requests (1787), Poems: Chiefly Tales (1804), The Battle of Bosworth Field (1813) and The History of Derby (1817).