Liberty's Dawn is a book researched and written recently (pub 2014) by Emma Griffin, suggesting a fresh look at the Industrial Revolution. Griffin is an academic (Professor of History at University of East Anglia) - but don't let that put you off. She writes engagingly. Her premise is that 'The Industrial Revolution brought not simply misery and poverty [to the Common People] . it raised incomes, improved literacy, and offered exciting opportunities for political action. For many this was a period of new, and much valued, sexual and cultural freedom.' She attempts to show this through some 350 'autobiographies' written by working class men and women of the period that she has found - some published, some held in record offices up and down the UK, some at length and some merely scraps of paper, and mostly written by self-taught writers. Whatever you may think of it, the premise challenges. Griffin makes strong claims based on slender evidence. But it's certainly an intriguing one and the stories themselves are fascinating. In other words it's a good read. The fact that it stirs the brain is not such a bad thing either. There are many of us who have inherited writings and letters of our ancestors stashed away in cupboards, under beds, in forgotten files and scrapbooks that we think are of no value to anyone but ourselves. Recently we have been seeing WW1 material on TV. There is also the occasional object which appears on Antiques Roadshow or (even worse Flog It or e-bay) which made me think about a national collection in the making. But beyond that thought I personally am stuck. I have limited computer skills, a dodgy memory and little time. Record Offices don't always want to take material which they see as being only of interest to an individual family but Griffin has shown that such material can have a wider significance. Maybe this is a thought for another day - in the meantime, I recommend the book! Griffin, Emma, Liberty's Dawn: A people's history of the Industrial Revolution, Yale University Press, 2014 ISBN 978-0-300-20525-1 (paperback) I borrowed mine from the local library. Enjoy. Ruth