The Shadow of the Mine

No one personified the age of industry more than the miners. The Shadow of the Mine tells the story of King Coal in its heyday – and what happened to mining communities after the last pits closed.

The Shadow of the Mine tells the story of King Coal in its heyday, the heroics and betrayals of the Miners’ Strike, and what happened to mining communities after the last pits closed.

No one personified the age of industry more than the miners. Coal was central to the British economy, powering its factories and railways. It carried political weight, too. In the eighties the miners risked everything in a year-long strike against Thatcher’s shutdowns. Their defeat doomed a way of life. The lingering sense of abandonment in former mining communities would be difficult to overstate. Yet recent electoral politics has revolved around the coalfield constituencies in Labour’s Red Wall. Huw Beynon and Ray Hudson draw on decades of research to chronicle these momentous changes through the words of the people who lived through them.

This edition includes a new postscript on why Thatcher’s war on the miners wasn’t good for green politics.

‘Excellent’
NEW STATESMAN

‘Brilliant’
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

‘Enlightening’
GUARDIAN“Brilliant … [Beynon and Hudson’s] analysis of the decline of British coal mining, and its social and political effects, is required reading for those who would speak for this working class.”
—David Egerton, Times Literary Supplement

“The Shadow of the Mine reminds us why this spirit [of solidarity and collectivism] has lived on in the coalfields, in spite of people feeling a sense of political betrayal going back decades … enlightening.”
—Conrad Landin, Guardian

“Refreshing and necessary … [The Shadow of the Mine] explains in loving, careful detail why working people’s relationship with Labour in former industrial communities … had become complex and ultimately soured.”
—Laura Pidcock, Red Pepper

“Beynon and Hudson … write with authority and respect of the former mining communities of Britain.”
—John Lloyd, Financial Times

“Starmer and his allies in Renaissance would do better to pick up a copy of The Shadow of the Mine … As Beynon and Hudson make clear, the succession of defeats inflicted on the trade unions over the last four decades has brought about the gradual fragmentation of old loyalties.”
—Tom Blackburn, Tribune

“Drawing on decades of research … [The Shadow of the Mine] is a moving account of 150 years of coalfield history … By tracing the ‘deep story’ of the marginalisation of Britain’s coalfields, it aims to understand the continuing exclusion of working-class people in deindustrialised areas from political and social life.”
—Diarmaid Kelliher, Antipode

“A solid account of the history of the coalfields in Durham and South Wales and the impact of deindustrialisation and closure upon them.”
—Mike Phipps, Labour Hub

“A brave book … anyone interested in the transformation that has reshaped Britain’s former coalfields should read The Shadow of the Mine.”
—Ewan Gibbs, Jacobin

“Considered, comprehensive and insightful … a book that deserves the widest distribution.”
—Steven Andrew, Morning Star

“Elegiac … [The Shadow of the Mine] provides essential economic and social context for both the Leave vote in 2016 and the consequent collapse of the so-called ‘Red Wall.’”
—Rhian E. Jones, Tribune

“The work of two outstanding ‘organic intellectuals’ of the very communities they are giving voice to … Anyone who wants to go beyond the ‘Red Wall’ platitudes of British politics ought to start with The Shadow of the Mine.”
Spokesman

“Excellent.”
—Robert Colls, New Statesman

“Superb and timely … full of lessons and insights for today.”
—Steve Davies, New Socialist

“A concern for the dignity of those who made (and continue to make) their lives in the coalfields runs through the book like an unbroken seam.”
—Gavin Bridge, AAG Review of BooksHuw Beynon is Emeritus Professor of Social Sciences at Cardiff University and author of, among other things, Working for Ford, which has become a classic.

Ray Hudson is Professor of Geography at the University of Durham and a decorated member of the Royal Geographical Society. His books include Approaches to Economic Geography, winner of the Regional Studies Association Best Book Award 2017.