Paper presented at the IMAS conference, 1973.

The development of the coalfield and the riparian manufacturing districts moulded new industrial landscapes; the growth of ports and conurbations demanded innovative approaches to government and administration; and the business strategies of North East entrepreneurs challenged conventional boundaries. The author concludes that riverside districts, on the Tyne, Tees and Wear, represented more viable working horizons than any 'regional' North East in this era, and raises important questions about the study of the English regions in their historical context."--Jacket.

Paper presented at the IMAS conference, 1973.

This is a masterly, immensely readable and totally convincing narrative of 500 years of this great and mightily important British industry In fact, this new book describes with great insight and clarity the development, growth and decline of two industries: first, the highly skilled trade of crafting wooden sailing ships; and, second, the story of the iron and steel shipbuilding industry that took its place. At one time dozens of small yards were busy building the small wooden trading vessels that were the mainstay of British trade with the world, but with the advent of steam power, and of iron hulls, the British industry gradually became concentrated in a few great shipbuilding regions such as the North East, the Clyde and Belfast.

In the past three centuries the ship has developed from the relatively unsophisticated sail-driven vessel which would have been familiar to the sailors of the Tudor navy, to the huge motor-driven container ships, nuclear submarines and vast cruise liners that ply our seas today. Who were the innovators and builders who, during that span of time, prompted and instigated the most significant advances?In the past three centuries the ship has developed from the relatively unsophisticated sail-driven vessel which would have been familiar to the sailors of the Tudor navy, to the huge motor-driven container ships, nuclear submarines and vast cruise liners that ply our seas today. Who were the innovators and builders who, during that span of time, prompted and instigated the most significant advances?In this new book the author describes the lives and deeds of more the 120 great engineers, scientists, philosophers, businessmen, shipwrights, naval architects and inventors who shaped ship design and shipbuilding world wide. Covering the story chronologically, and going back briefly even to Archimedes, such well-known names as Anthony Deane, Peter the Great, James Watt, Robert Fulton and Isambard Kingdom Brunel share space with lesser known characters like the luckless Frederic Sauvage, a pioneer of screw propulsion who, unable to interest the French navy in his tests in the early 1830s, was bankrupted and landed in debtors prison. With the inclusion of such names as Ben Lexcen, the Australian yacht designer who developed the controversial winged keel for the 1983 Americas Cup, the story is brought right up to date.Concise linking chapters place all these innovators in context so that a clear and fascinating history of the development of ships and shipbuilding emerges from the pages. An original and important new reference book.

Informative, vivid and richly illustrated, this volume explores the history of England's northern borders – the former counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, Westmorland and the Furness areas of Lancashire – across 1000 years. The book explores every aspect of this changing scene, from the towns and poor upland farms of early modern Cumbria to life in the teeming communities of late Victorian Tyneside. In their final chapters the authors review the modern decline of these traditional industries and the erosion of many of the region's historical characteristics.

Containing over 25,000 entries, this unique volume will be absolutely indispensable for all those with an interest in Britain in the twentieth century. Accessibly arranged by theme, with helpful introductions to each chapter, a huge range of topics is covered. There is a comprehensiveindex.

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Industries of the North East have changed and developed over the last century.