Additional information
| Weight | 0.92 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 24 × 17 × 2 cm |
TIN MINING IN CORNWALL 1900 TO 1950, DECLINE, FALL AND RESURRECTION
£25.00
Author: Roger Burt, with Michael C Gill and Norikaza Kudo
Publisher: Trevithick Society
ISBN 978-1-8384245-3-4
Format: 325 pages, illustrations, figures, maps, tables, bibliographies, index.
Description: ‘In histories of the Cornish Tin Industry, the period after the death of Queen Victoria often receives scant attention and is treated as a mere tailpiece. This omission is now significantly remedied by Roger Burt’s history of the first half of the twentienth century. Here will be found a new analysis of this era which examines its successes and failures both generally and through major players, East Pool, Geevor and South Crofty. There are also portraits of several key individuals. This is an important original work from an author who has made an extensive study of metal mining with particular reference to Cornwall, and a major addition to the story of Cornish Tin. It also provides interesting perspectives on the problems facing any revival of Cornish mining now or in the future.
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1 review for TIN MINING IN CORNWALL 1900 TO 1950, DECLINE, FALL AND RESURRECTION
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Terry Knight –
From Old Cornwall, vol 16, no. 6: By any measure Roger Burt’s new book is a weighty thing. As usual, the Trevithick Society has made a fine book – hardback, well-proofed, printed and presented. It is an excellent testament to the Society’s hard-earned reputation as a learned body, and this book extends that reputation by offering a timely commentary on present and future prospects.
Professor Roger Burt is an expert on the mining economy. As such he is a realist, and starkly honest about why Cornish mining collapsed in the early part of the Twentieth Century. He also has some surprises about causes – the most prescient of which is that, having pioneered steam in the Victorian period, Cornish mine operators tended to not move with the times and did not install electricity, but rather opted to pay ever-more demanding shareholders – in the short-term indicators of success lay the roots of long-term failure.
The author also examines leading personalities of the era, and looks at some of the mines. These are insightful appendices to his main argument which is that, whilst there is much current excitement and speculative investment, we are unlikely to see the mining boom that some are now predicting.
This is not a book which examines romantic myths or ruins – it is about the business of mining, and it is ruthlessly critical of self-interest where that diverted resource away from investment. Burt is a cogent thinker, and he writes very well – with the fluidity of an excellent historian. It should be a bestseller as all those who peruse the recently published UK Minerals Strategy (HMSO 2024) seek to equip themselves with intelligent narrative well-founded in excellent research and hard facts.
Bert Biscoe / Vyajor Gans Geryow