Two famous and powerful men of the late Victorian and early Edwardian era, Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) and George Cadbury (1839-1922), towered over one of the great cities of the British Empire - Birmingham. Together, they offer a fascinating window into the rapidly changing world in which they lived and the preoccupations of their generation. Throughout their lives both men pursued a common mission - to improve the lives of their fellow citizens - and zealously pursued a philosophy of social and civic responsibility rooted in nonconformist religion. However, these were very different characters sharing a single stage. Having aggressively built a fortune in engineering as a young man, Chamberlain entered civic politics and, during three terms as mayor, he made Birmingham the global model of good civic governance. But his ambitions stretched beyond Birmingham to Westminster where he became the first great middle-class statesman of modern Britain and the leading Radical of the age although his career ended in failure and he never achieved the highest office he craved. Throughout this tubulent career, Birmingham, sometimes referred to as his "Duchy", remained Chamberlain's political base and his family home. It was here after an incapacitating stroke, Chamberlain was buried following a funeral where the size of the crowds brought the whole city to a halt. It was also here in Birmingham that Cadbury created his fortune and where his programmes for social improvement caught the attention of the world. Taking control of the confectionary business established by his Quaker family, Cadbury built it into one of the first great global brands. The wealth he created allowed Cadbury to introduce far-sighted benefits for his workers including the visionary model village of Bournville which was his response to the jerry-built slum housing of his workforce. Then around the houses, schools and green open spaces of Bournville Cadbury created a distinct community founded on strict adherence to his Quaker values of temperance and industrial discipline. Meanwhile, on the national stage Cadbury successfully campaigned to improve the lives of men and women labouring in sweatshops and worked for the introduction of pioneering social reforms including non-contributory old age pensions. Throughout this time, unlike Chamberlain, he abhorred party politics and his pacifist views brought them into conflict during the Anglo Boer War which Chamberlain championed. By his death, Cadbury was lauded as one of the leading philanthropists of his age. So, both Chamberlain and Cadbury championed political and social reform based on their experiences in Birmingham and subsequently became important figures of British life. Yet for all that they had in common, they were radically different from each other. Their ambitions and their methods for effecting change, took divergent routes and as a result from time-to-time they came into conflict in the arena of national affairs and in Birmingham," where they were reluctant neighbours. Two Titans: One City is the first study to explore, compare and contrast the lives of these two very famous but very different figures, Historian and author, Andrew Reekes uses archives, correspondence and contemporary accounts to reveal the fascinating lives and rivalries of these two important figures of their age.

The British electorate swelled dramatically with the passing of the Second Reform Act in 1867. This presented the political class with a significant challenge. Here was a large, new electorate which needed to be understood, managed, enthused, and persuaded to vote for the right candidate in local and parliamentary elections. From this time onwards education and democratic involvement of these new voters became vital for political success. In Birmingham, the town of a thousand trades, Joseph Chamberlain and his allies were faced with an electorate which had tripled in size overnight and many of whom had never previously voted or participated in politics. In response, Joseph Chamberlain and his close-knit Birmingham team developed national campaigns on issues such as universal education, democracy and tariff reform which required new methods for propagating and winning arguments that resonated across all classes and interests. At the same time they colonised Birmingham's town council, school board and other municipal bodies where they gained the practical political experience which they could transfer to the national stage. For the first time The Birmingham Political Machine lays bare how Joseph Chamberlain with his colleagues and friends was so successful that never before or since has one politician monopolised regional power as Joseph Chamberlain did for more than thirty years in the West Midlands. He made it his invincible fortress. From now on British politics would never be the same and the techniques developed by the Birmingham Machine can still be seen today.

Deeply Responsible Business profiles corporate leaders of the past two centuries who made social missions vital to their businesses. Geoffrey Jones explores the characters and motivations of fourteen such leaders and compares their deep social and environmental commitments to the lukewarm “corporate social responsibility” of today.

If ever there was a regional UK city with the credentials to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham was always it. One in ten people in the city was born in an overseas Commonwealth country, and many more have family in member nations such as India, Jamaica and Pakistan. Many of these are descendants of the generation who arrived after the Second World War to find work in the city's manufacturing boom years. But, as Simon Wilcox discovers, the links go much further back than that. In fact, the connections started with the canal building zeal of Birmingham's industrial pioneers in the eighteenth century who built a canal network that spanned out from the Gas Street Basin. It was this network that opened up a new world of trade for the city – a world which revolved around metal, chocolate and weekly shipments of Ceylon tea.

The story of W.K.L. Dickson—assistant to Edison, inventor, and key figure in early cinematography: “Valuable and comprehensive.” —Communication Booknotes Quarterly W.K.L. Dickson was Thomas Edison’s assistant in charge of the experimentation that led to the Kinetoscope and Kinetograph—the first commercially successful moving image machines. In 1891–1892, he established what we know today as the 35mm format. Dickson also designed the Black Maria film studio and facilities to develop and print film, and supervised production of more than one hundred films for Edison. After leaving Edison, he became a founding member of the American Mutoscope Company, which later became the American Mutoscope & Biograph, then Biograph. In 1897, he went to England to set up the European branch of the company. Over the course of his career, Dickson made between five hundred and seven hundred films, which are studied today by scholars of the early cinema. This well-illustrated book offers a window onto early film history from the perspective of Dickson’s own oeuvre.

The Conflict of Lions" digs into the rich and enthralling competition between Manchester City and Aston Villa, crossing many years of footballing history. From the early magnificence of long periods between the two clubs to the advanced time of strategic development and worldwide fandom, the book investigates each feature of this celebrated contention. Through point-by-point investigation of significant matches, the effect of moves and signings, and the background elements of the club and the board, perusers gain knowledge of the enthusiasm and power that characterize the conflict of lions. Furthermore, the book features the meaning of local area commitment endeavors by the two clubs, displaying their obligation to have a constructive outcome beyond the pitch. As the account looks towards the future, it thinks about the advancing elements of the contention and the difficulties and valuable open doors that lie ahead for Manchester City and Aston Estate. With its mix of history, examination, and hypothesis, "The Conflict of Lions" offers an exhaustive and convincing investigation of one of English football's most getting-through contentions.