‘This volume provides much more than the narrow, institutional history of one small group of workers, in one small part of the country, in what was becoming one small industry. This is history with an explicit political and historiographical agenda . . . this deeply felt, thoroughly researched, consistently authoritative and highly readable study provides a valuable addition to the changing canon of miners’ trade union history . .
.’ (Labour History Review)
‘Gildart’s single-authored book is useful for helping allow a wider view of miners’ history than hitherto.’ British Journal of Industrial Relations
‘ . . . extremely well researched . . . an outstanding work, which it is hard to imagine will be superseded for many years . . . This is a compelling thesis, superbly researched and carefully argued. The book has implications far beyond the lost world of North Wales coalfield, however, and should be of use to all historians interested in mining communities, labour, and the social and political history of the post-was British and Welsh working classes.’ (History)
‘ . . . North Wales Miners is a comprehensive, scholarly examination of North Wales coal mining . . . an important contribution to industrial sociology and labor history. . . In illuminating tensions between the national and local unions, Gildart successfully offers an alternative to the overgeneralized depiction of this important area of research . . . ’ (Contemporary Sociology)
‘ . . .Gildart’s book provides a clear and fascinating account of NUM politics both within the North Wales Area and between that area and others and the national officers . . . The book is a major contribution to its subject and, more broadly, to Welsh history and it deserves a very wide readership. . . ’ (Welsh History Review)
The inter-relationship of coal, community and politics is central to the history of modern Wales and, for many, the south Wales valleys symbolize the culture of coalfield communities. The North Wales Miners: A Fragile Unity, 1945–1996 offers a new insight into mining history. It moves away from the industrial south and examines the recent history of the north Wales coalfield and its place in working-class history.
'The research is admirably complete, embracing rich archival and documentary
sources (notably the archive of the North Wales NUM at Hawarden), an
extensive programme of interviews and personal reminiscences, official reports, newspapers and journals, and an array of (both contemporary and
later) secondary literature relevant to the British coal industry generally as well as to Wales specifically. All are woven into a highly readable, coherent, compelling narrative.
The volume is eminently well produced, fully documented and indexed, and contains a number of fascinating illustrations relevant to the theme of the discussion. This unfailingly scholarly volume is a major contribution to ourunderstanding of the social, political and industrial history of north Wales
since World War Two, and helps to shift the perspective away from our near obsession with industrial south Wales where indeed 'coal was king'. Oneanticipates eagerly the appearance of further volumes in this notable series.' (www.gwales.com)
Keith Gildart concentrates on the period between the nationalization of the coal industry in 1947 and its privatization in 1994 and, through a detailed study of groups, individuals and communities, demonstrates the complex nature of work and politics during a period of momentous change in British coalfield history. He pays particular attention to the politics of the National Union of Mineworkers, the role of the Labour Party, and the impact of pit closures on miners and their localities. North Wales Miners combines oral history and archival sources to provide a ground-breaking account of social, political and industrial change in post-war Wales.
A former north Wales miner himself, Keith Gildart is currently a Research Fellow in Politics at the University of York and an Editor of the Dictionary of Labour Biography. He has published widely on British and Welsh labour history.