'The Making of the Black Country', by Geoff Marshall
ISBN 978-1-83628-051-4 Troubadour Publishing Limited, £19.99
GLIAS member Geoff Marshall has turned away from Surrey (and London, subject of his previous book) to return to his roots in the Midlands and the 'Black Country'. I've never been too sure where it is and, in the Introduction, Geoff points out where it isn't; Birmingham (nor Stoke).
The book is divided by raw materials, products and transportation and references descriptions of The Black Country and its products from the 17th century onwards. The sections are illustrated with contemporary black and white images and, where appropriate, current, colour images. Each chapter ends with copious references and the whole is indexed at the end. Having visited The Black Country on business, GLIAS and other trips, Geoff's book has given me a good look at why it was described as 'black by day and red by night'. Dan Hayton
'George Livesey - A Biography', by Mary Mills
Published 19 November 2024. Available from Amazon £15. Email: marymillsmmmmm@aol.com
The story of George Livesey, 19th-century gas works manager from the Old Kent Road. Livesey changed and modernised the industry nationally - and upset a lot of people in the process. He is best known outside Southwark for his role in the 1889 Gas Worker's Union 'strike' in which he sought to introduce co-partnership between management and workforce. Outside the industry he was an active temperance campaigner and in his gas works were the largest gasholders in the world. GLIAS member Mary Mills has been working on this book since 1978.