Not On Queen Victoria's Birthday: The Story Of The Rio Tinto Mines (SIGNED)
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: First Edition Thus
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Markings: Signed with inscription
Condition remarks: Minor chipsto edge of DJ, some minor discolouration to spine.
In the sun-scorched hills of southern Spain, a story of industrial ambition, colonial swagger, and human cost unfolded over centuries — and David Avery's Not on Queen Victoria's Birthday chronicles it all with meticulous authority. This landmark work tells the turbulent history of the Rio Tinto mines, one of the world's oldest and most storied mining operations, tracing the dramatic arc from ancient Phoenician and Roman exploitation through to the era of British corporate dominance in the 19th and 20th centuries. Avery details the remarkable 1873 purchase of the mines by a British-led consortium, the ensuing clash of cultures between English management and Spanish labour, and the notorious 1888 Riot of the Smoke — a workers' uprising sparked by the toxic fumes from open-air ore roasting — an event the British authorities were determined would not mar the pageantry of Queen Victoria's birthday celebrations. Beyond the dramatic set-pieces, Avery presents a richly textured narrative that sits at the crossroads of imperial history, industrial capitalism, and early labour politics, illustrating how a remote mining town became a microcosm of the tensions that defined the British Empire at its height. His prose is authoritative yet vivid, drawing on extensive archival research to reconstruct a world where vast fortunes were made on the backs of workers breathing poisoned air. A sobering and essential read, Not on Queen Victoria's Birthday leaves the reader questioning just how much of the modern world was built on foundations that powerful men preferred to keep quietly buried.
Author: David Avery
Format: Hardback
Published: 1974, Collins
Genre: History
Edition: First Edition Thus
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Markings: Signed with inscription
Condition remarks: Minor chipsto edge of DJ, some minor discolouration to spine.
In the sun-scorched hills of southern Spain, a story of industrial ambition, colonial swagger, and human cost unfolded over centuries — and David Avery's Not on Queen Victoria's Birthday chronicles it all with meticulous authority. This landmark work tells the turbulent history of the Rio Tinto mines, one of the world's oldest and most storied mining operations, tracing the dramatic arc from ancient Phoenician and Roman exploitation through to the era of British corporate dominance in the 19th and 20th centuries. Avery details the remarkable 1873 purchase of the mines by a British-led consortium, the ensuing clash of cultures between English management and Spanish labour, and the notorious 1888 Riot of the Smoke — a workers' uprising sparked by the toxic fumes from open-air ore roasting — an event the British authorities were determined would not mar the pageantry of Queen Victoria's birthday celebrations. Beyond the dramatic set-pieces, Avery presents a richly textured narrative that sits at the crossroads of imperial history, industrial capitalism, and early labour politics, illustrating how a remote mining town became a microcosm of the tensions that defined the British Empire at its height. His prose is authoritative yet vivid, drawing on extensive archival research to reconstruct a world where vast fortunes were made on the backs of workers breathing poisoned air. A sobering and essential read, Not on Queen Victoria's Birthday leaves the reader questioning just how much of the modern world was built on foundations that powerful men preferred to keep quietly buried.