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Edited by
Editorial
Adviser John Saville
The risks and almost casual heroism integral to the fire fighters' job have
not only created an intense camaraderie among the workforce but also made
their union one which inspires tremendous loyalty and respect. Forged in Fire
tells the story of the FBU not in the form of a traditional blow-by-blow account
but through a series of inter-linked essays which highlight the most fascinating
aspects of the union's history. They include an account of the role played
by women in the fire service and FBU during the war, and an analysis of the
social composition of a union once largely made up of ex-merchant seamen.
It also includes an assessment of the bitter national strike in the winter
of 1977-78, throwing considerable light on more recent disputes.
Uniquely for a trade union history, Forged In Fire also contains a number of autobiographical pieces by former leaders of the union, including John Horner who was its general secretary during the war years, and also rank-and-file members with their reminiscences of the 1977-78 strike.
Victor Bailey, formerly a research Fellow at Worcester College, Oxford, is professor of Modern British History at the University of Kansas. He is the author of Policing and Punishment in Nineteenth-Century Britain (1981) and Delinquency and Citizenship: Reclaiming the Young Offender, 1914-1948 (1987)