Social & Industrial History

The workforce of 423 employed by Swindon Works in 1843 grew to 14,000 by the early 20th century and the centre earned an enviable reputation by developing its own methods and inspiring a sense of community. This history of the GWR institution features the first-hand accounts of former employees, and provides detailed facts and figures including lists of locomotives and pay grades, and a lexicon of specialist language.

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.

The first railway entrepreneurs considered that their real business would be in freight, the tremendous demand for passenger travel coming as something of a surprise. This well-researched history challenges the traditional notion of rail travel as a middle-class activity in the first decades of steam, exploring the cheap excursions that were promoted to the working classes by enterprising tour operators and railway companies, and revealing the appalling conditions, often in open carriages, that the day trippers had to endure.

The Daily Mirror's picture archive is a repository of British social history reaching back to the end of the 19th century. This selection of 250 images recalls the days of steam from before the First World War to the preserved lines and locomotives of today.

The GWR Swindon Works produced some of the iconic locomotives of the steam era, but its rolling stock - the all-important freight wagons and passenger cars - have received less attention from steam enthusiasts and historians. This study tells the story of the other half of the GWR Works, traces the development of carriage and wagon design and, with the help of archive photographs, explains how carriages and wagons were built at Swindon in its heyday.

Playing a crucial role in building one of the world's best transport systems, London's bus, tram, rail and Underground workers have fought hard to improve working conditions over the years. This book studies workforce and management relations from the late 19th to the 21st century.

Photographer, photographic historian and incurable steam enthusiast, John Hannavy uses his own collection of postcards to explore the rolling stock, stations and operation of the railways in the period from 1902 up to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. As well as trains in the land- and cityscape, the 290 postcards reproduced include views of the Travelling Post Office, the Snowdon Railway, trackside buildings and railway disasters.