Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire - the spiritual heart of the Yorkshire coalfield. In 1930 the miners talked about their work 'as you sometimes hear people talking about war; raw as meat ripped from the living. There was also a sunken, submerged mysticism here.' This frontier of wild, mysterious, almost supernatural darkness permeated the people of the valley as much as the hard work and danger. In 1930 there were 141 pits - today only one survives. The story of twentieth century England is in this valley. Following four generations of his mother's family, the Hollingworths, born between 1900 and 2000, Benson depicts a community characterised not by the stereotype of doughty, unassuming labourers, happy with their lot in life, but the driven individuals relentless in the pursuit of their dreams. The Valley replaces the traditional view of the miners in the public imagination with that of a gutsy, impassioned portrait of individuals wrestling with their destinies, determined to succeed. They represent an era in which the notion of community was a reality, not a nostalgic memory; where the sense of social hierarchy was felt strongly even within the classes, and where upheavals in the fabric of society had pivotal, far-reaching effects on people's daily lives. It is a book about change and will touch the many for whom the miners' strike of 1984-5 was a defining historical moment. In its sweeping but deeply personal history of the working classes, The Valley shows a century punctuated by social upheaval. It is a tribute to a community that no longer exists, but still resonates in our memories.
