Geographically isolated and long regarded as the 'quintessential' proletarians, industrial bogeymen and revolutionaries, coal miners occupy an important place in the history of industrial radicalism in New Zealand. Looking behind the stereotypes, Coal, Class and Community tells a story about New Zealand's industrial past, clearly identifying the central issues and paying attention to the colorful personalities involved. The book demonstrates how miners' sense that they had a historic mission to lead the assault upon the capitalist system brought them to the fore during New Zealand's greatest industrial upheavals: the Maritime Strike of 1890, the revolutionary turmoil of 1912–13 and the 1951 Waterfront Dispute.

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