Pits 1 and 2 have been out of print for a number of years, but due to continued demand, we are now producing a compendium of both volumes which tells the complete story of the growth and development of mining in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Included are chapters covering the evolution, boom and war, strife and hope nationalisation, and victory and decline of the mining industry. Through the use of first class accounts, hundreds of photographs and illustrations, this compendium reveals how mining played such a dominant part in the lives of many people from the Yorkshire area. Covered is the disastrous 1984/1985 Miners' Strike and subsequent pit closure programme, and looks at the effects that the strike had. Above all. this book is a tribute to coal miners and their families.