Mining is Britain's oldest industry, and this book tells the story of the men and, in the past, women who spent their lives working underground. Geographically the book covers the regions of Devon and Cornwall, Leicester and Nottingham, Yorkshire and Lancashire, Durham and Northumberland, South Wales and Southern Scotland. This is a dramatic story, telling of two wars, the fight against the dangers of floods and explosions and the often bitter struggle against the mine owners. It is also a story of invention and innovation, in particular how the independent miners of Cornwall and Devon were at the forefront of the development of the steam engine that was to transform society. But above all it is a story of a courageous and close-knit community that has now all but passed into history.