Walsall: An Illustrated HistoryPaperback, 1 February 2008

Richly illustrated with more than 90 photographs, this is a comprehensive history of Walsall, "the town of 100 trades." All aspects of the town's history are here, from law and order and politics--where the tactics traditionally included riots, corruption, bomb making, and the burning of effigies, with one prospective parliamentary candidate even promising that, if returned, he would marry one of the electors' daughters--to transport, education, health, and the history of the Saddlers football club. Of course, no book on the town would be complete without the histories of those industries which have made the region famous, including ironwork, leatherwork, buckle making, and brewing, and mining for ironstone, limestone, dolerite, and coal. With the stories of well-known residents of the past, including the saintly Sister Dora and Agnes Mountfield--the first female head brewer--and accounts of the Tudor origins of Queen Mary's School, the mob attack on John Wesley, and the strange affair of Joe Deakin and the Walsall Anarchists, this fascinating volume will delight residents and visitors alike.