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Backbone of the Nation book cover
Backbone of the Nation
Mining Communities and the Great Strike of 1984-85
2023
First Published
4.31
Average Rating
499
Number of Pages

A powerful new history of the Great Strike in the miners’ own voices, based on more than 140 interviews with former miners and their families Forty years ago, Arthur Scargill led the National Union of Mineworkers on one of the largest strikes in British history. A deep sense of pride existed within Britain’s mining communities who thought of themselves as the backbone of the nation’s economy. But they were vilified by Margaret Thatcher’s government and eventually deprived of their jobs, their livelihoods, and in some cases, their lives. In this groundbreaking new history, Robert Gildea interviews those miners and their families who fought to defend themselves. Exploring mining communities from South Wales to the Midlands, Yorkshire, County Durham, and Fife, Gildea shows how the miners and their families organized to protect themselves, and how a network of activists mobilized to support them. Amid the recent wave of industrial action in the United Kingdom, Backbone of the Nation highlights anew the importance of labor organization—and intimately records the triumphs, losses, and resilience of these mining communities.

Avg Rating
4.31
Number of Ratings
54
5 STARS
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4 STARS
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3 STARS
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2 STARS
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Author

Robert Gildea
Author · 7 books
Robert Nigel Gildea is professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford and is the author of several influential books on 20th century French history.
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