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Mining Men
- Author
- Emily P Webber
- Narrator
- Esme Patey Ford
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 13 February 2025
- Run Time
- 8 hours 14 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
The story of the last generation of British miners: fathers and sons, brothers and comrades, big hitters and broken men, strikers and scabs.
Mining Men explores how these men felt when the pits were closed and what happened next, including former miners who became factory workers, detectives, driving instructors, counsellors, the local mayor and one who even ended up working on Fleet Street. Featuring accounts from Ayrshire to the South Wales Valleys, from the ‘People’s Republic of South Yorkshire’, to the ‘Sunshine Corner Coalfields’ of Kent, each chapter offers a different perspective of the industry.
Britain’s last deep coalmine closed in 2015, yet just fifty years ago the mining industry was a juggernaut, employing over 250,000 workers. Combining new personal interviews with extensive archival research, Emily P. Webber illuminates the extraordinary history of the industry once considered the backbone of Britain.
By situating the miners’ strike of 1984–85 in a longer history of the coalfields, we can understand why miners and their families fought so hard against pit closures, and what happened after the pit wheels stopped turning. Vivid, evocative and richly alive with minute detail, Mining Men uncovers what the mining industry once meant to its workers and their communities, and what Britain lost when it was gone.
© Emily P Webber 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Critics Review
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[A] hugely impressive book… a compelling, unflinching account that rattles by as a great human saga, full of tales of tragedy, gallows humour and camaraderie
The Times
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Fascinating ... An engaging history of post-war British mining
Daily Telegraph
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An absorbing and enjoyable read, Mining Men offers an interesting exploration of an important chapter of Britain’s industrial and social history, and an illuminating peek into the lives of those who risked everything to warm our hearths...thoughtful and nuanced
The Herald
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'Mining Men is a rare thing – a book which comes from generous, sustained and informed listening. Emily Webber has collected and curated stories from the life and death of an industry which defined Britain. She pays tribute to the miners in her subtle, evocative prose. It is a skilful book, full of compassion. She has done the industry and the "kings of the coalface" proud.''
Helen Mort
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'A powerful, enlightening study of the beauty and brutality of British coal mining, and a hymn to the men who were born into and lived through the mining way of life - told through their authentic voices, it is essential reading for those who care about the social and political effects of coal mining history, and the history of us working-class.'
Natasha Carthew
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I read this book at one sitting… Webber is a historian who can write with the creative style, flair and passion of a novelist… A thoroughly interesting and informative read that often moved me beyond words and which will be of interest to all
Morning Star
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By telling the real-life stories – emotional, witty, surprising – of the works who went down to the coalface, Webber offers a panoramic history of an industry that used to power Britain all day and night
Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year*
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Details
- Author
- Emily P Webber
- Narrator
- Esme Patey Ford
- Duration
- 8 hours 14 minutes
- Release Date
- 13 February 2025
- ISBN
- 9781529943115
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Industrialisation and industrial history, Extractive industries, Trade unions, Gender studies: men and boys
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin. The story of the last generation of British miners: fathers and sons, brothers and comrades, big hitters and broken men, strikers and scabs.Mining Men explores how these men felt when the pits were closed and what happened next, including former miners who became factory workers, detectives, driving instructors, counsellors, the local mayor and one who even ended up working on Fleet Street. Featuring accounts from Ayrshire to the South Wales Valleys, from the ‘People’s Republic of South Yorkshire’, to the ‘Sunshine Corner Coalfields’ of Kent, each chapter offers a different perspective of the industry.Britain’s last deep coalmine closed in 2015, yet just fifty years ago the mining industry was a juggernaut, employing over 250,000 workers. Combining new personal interviews with extensive archival research, Emily P. Webber illuminates the extraordinary history of the industry once considered the backbone of Britain.By situating the miners’ strike of 1984–85 in a longer history of the coalfields, we can understand why miners and their families fought so hard against pit closures, and what happened after the pit wheels stopped turning. Vivid, evocative and richly alive with minute detail, Mining Men uncovers what the mining industry once meant to its workers and their communities, and what Britain lost when it was gone.© Emily P Webber 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
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