Amazon.com description: Product Description: The iron industry was the catalyst for the Industrial Revolution, producing a vital source of iron without which none of the great engineering achievements of the Victorian age would have been possible. This book charts the growth of iron making from the Middle Ages, describing the changing ways in which iron was produced, the people involved in its production, and the uses to which iron was put. The developing techniques of iron making, all explained in a non-technical style, make a story in their own right, but combined with the experiences of the masters and workmen who laboured at the furnaces and forges, this volume offers a truly comprehensive account of one of the most important industries of recent centuries.