Located in the heart of London’s Docklands, the Thames Iron Works pioneered metal-hulled ships in the mid 19th century, providing employment for much of the East End. Though it closed in 1912, its spirit lives on through the company's football team, which became West Ham United.

In an age before steam had ousted the clippers and Liverpool’s quays were still a forest of masts, the city’s 18,000 dock workers – many of them of Irish descent – began to organize themselves into trades unions. Extensively illustrated with historic prints and photographs, this groundbreaking study charts the struggles of these workers to improve their conditions and build self-reliance in the face of increasing mechanization, and vividly recreates the hustle and bustle of the Victorian waterfront.

For over two centuries from its first development in 1710, steam technology was behind a revolution which swept the world. Exploring the contribution of such figures as Stephenson and Brunel, this book traces the development of steam locomotion from the first Mississippi steamboats to the Titanic, and from the first London terminus at Euston to the Trans-Siberian Railway.

This diary, kept by the chairman of the Clipstone Colliery strike committee, provides an emotional day-by-day account of events during the dispute that not only led to Lowe’s arrest but would also have a profound effect on the whole nation. Foreword by Dennis Skinner.