Bruce Wilson's diary is an honest and action-packed account of what life was like for five young men on picket duty during the longest and most bitter industrial dispute in modern times: the 1984-85 miners' strike. Bruce and, younger brother Bob, along with mates Shaun, Darren and 'Captain' Bob crammed themselves into an old car or 'battlebus' and, despite police barriers and blockades, journeyed into Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and elsewhere in order to express their views and support their union in a country which they thought was free. We are able to experience at first-hand and day by day events, which were often frightening, occasionally humorous but never dull; and also gain insight into major conflicts at Orgreave, Brodsworth, Rossington and Maltby as well as at locations further afield. Towards the end of the strike our flying pickets found themselves on home ground, demonstrating at Silverwood and nearby collieries, including Cortonwood where many observers consider the great strike began. Any former striking miner will find the book compulsive reading and despite the passage of twenty years the journey will seem like yesterday. But there is a great deal for us all to appreciate from this remarkably frank and moving testimony.

Bruce Wilson's strike diary is an honest and action packed account of what it was like for five young men on picket duty during the longest most bitterest dispute in modern times. This complete unedited account with images taken on the day to compliment the day's events help to paint a better picture of what was happening. The diary contains mixed emotions throughout. It's a tragedy. heartbreaking at times & hilarious all at the same time. It's so funny even in the face of adversity, it shows real human emotions and endurance, some of the humour is off the scale. Not many diaries can portray that. The government was out to break us, "They wanted a war, they got one" We were fighting not just for our jobs and communities but for our mates down the road jobs and communities. The story of five young striking miners' who became Yorkshire flying pickets determined to stop working miners' crossing the picket lines up and down the Country. Nottinghamshire became a police state. No entry for Yorkshire striking miners' and others from other coalfields. Read about a Yorkshire miner and his wife losing a baby, "The NUM paid to bury his child" It never entered his head once to break the strike. The battles in South Yorkshire mining communities, Silverwood, Maltby, Brodsworth collieries and many more, including many entries for Orgreave from May 1984 upto and including June the 18th 1984.

John Lowe, chairman of Clipstone Colliery's strike committee, was at the forefront of the fight for jobs of the twelve months' 1984/85 miners' strike at a time when most Nottinghamshire miners preferred to work. The now well known 'dirty war' fought by the Thatcher Government against the National Union of Mineworkers transformed him from a passive family man into a political animal. Lowe was witness to many disturbing events, recording his experiences and thoughts in a diary so that they would never be forgotten: read about a pensioner friend beaten at a police roadblock, a bleak but unifying Christmas, the slow trickle back to work; and finally the the dreaded day the strike ended - and the first harrowing weeks back at the coal face among people he despised. With the scars of the dispute still fresh, John Lowe reflected upon both local and national events to produce pieces of writing from the heart, illustrated via a huge collection of documentation and memorabilia. Although a tale of sorrow it is also a testament to the unquenchable spirit of men and women fighting for a just cause during the most significant industrial dispute in modern history.

Britain’s year-long miners’ strike against the Thatcher administration is vividly recounted in this diary of one of its most vocal leaders. John Lowe was at the forefront of the fight for jobs during the miners strike of 1984-85. He led from the front, as the elected chairman of Clipstone Colliery’s strike committee in the county of Nottinghamshire. The dirty war fought by the Thatcher Government to defeat the National Union of Mineworkers transformed Lowe from passive family man into a dedicated activist. Witness to many disturbing events, he recorded his experiences in a diary that is presented here in full, along with photographs, correspondence, court documents, and other materials. Lowe tells of the initial scramble to organize; the London rally that police tried to turn into a riot; his arrest and fast-tracking through the court system; the legendary pensioner friend beaten at a police roadblock; the slow trickle back to work; the dreaded day the strike ended; and first harrowing weeks back at the coalface among people he despised. With the scars left by the dispute still fresh upon him, Lowe reflected on events at both the local and national level. This volume is also a testament to the unquenchable spirit of men and women with a just cause.

Women have long been recognised as the backbone of coalmining communities, supporting their men. Less well known is the role which they played as the industry developed, working underground or at the pit head. The year 2012 is the 170th anniversary of the publication of the Report of the Second Childrens Employment Commission. The report caused public outrage in May 1842, revealing that halfdressed women worked underground alongside naked men. Three months later, to protect them from moral corruption, females were banned from working underground. The Commissions report has been neglected as a historical source with the same few quotations widely used to illustrate the same headline points. And yet, across the country, around 350 women and girls described their lives and work. Together, this report and the 1841 census, produce a detailed and surprising picture of a female miner at work, at home and in her community. After 1842 females were still allowed to work above ground. Following a painful transition in the mid-1840s when some former female miners suffered severe hardship women forged a new role at pit heads in Lancashire and Scotland, and then fought to retain it against opposition from many men.This book examines the social, economic and political factors affecting nineteenth-century female coalminers, drawing out the largely untapped evidence within contemporary sources and challenging long-standing myths. It contains what may be the first identified photograph of a female miner who gave evidence in 1842 and reveals the future lives of some of those who gave evidence to the Royal Commission.

Analyses conditions in the coal mining sector which precipitated the strike. Discusses the mobilisation, organisation and maintenance of the strike, the strike settlement and its aftermath.

“An ambitious look at the last days of the Clash . . . as much a political history of the 1980s as it is a look at an influential band in its final years.”—Publishers Weekly The Clash was a paradox of revolutionary conviction, musical ambition, and commercial drive. We Are The Clash is a gripping tale of the band’s struggle to reinvent itself as George Orwell’s 1984 loomed. This bold campaign crashed headlong into a wall of internal contradictions and rising right-wing power. While the world teetered on the edge of the nuclear abyss, British miners waged a life-or-death strike, and tens of thousands died from US guns in Central America, Clash cofounders Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon, and Bernard Rhodes waged a desperate last stand after ejecting guitarist Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon. The band shattered just as its controversial final album, Cut the Crap, was emerging. Andersen and Heibutzki weave together extensive archival research and in-depth original interviews with virtually all of the key players involved to tell a moving story of idealism undone by human frailty amid a climatic turning point for our world. “The Clash’s final chapter, after guitarist Mick Jones’ 1983 departure, has largely been forgotten—until this book, in which authors Mark Andersen and Ralph Heibutzki argue that the punk pioneers were still creating vital music to the very end.”—Rolling Stone, an RS Picks/New Books “Focuses on a very different moment in the band’s history: the point at which the group splintered in the early 1980s, and its members grappled with an onset of reactionary governments around the world.”—Vol. 1 Brooklyn “One of the most rewarding music books you’ll come across this year.”—Johns Hopkins Magazine