Anne Orde – författare

The decline of Great Britain as a world power was the result of long-term economic change and two world wars. Except in a few areas, American authorities did not set out to supplant Britain: indeed until the Second World War they were hesitant about the use of power. But when they embraced it, a variety of factors ensured that it was Britain's place that was taken. This book offers an authoritative analysis of the stages of displacement and the complex feelings aroused by the process on both sides of the Atlantic. As such it describes a transfer of power which will surely be seen as one of the most fundamentally important events of the twentieth century.

British Policy and European Reconstruction after the First World War is a study of the political economy of Europe after 1919. Dr Orde provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of reconstruction: financial stabilization, credit, trade and development. She shows how policies were much affected by the connected problems of reparations and war debts. In all this, Britain, as a major trading nation and financial centre, weakened by the war but less physically damaged than many belligerents, played a crucial role which has not hitherto received comprehensive treatment. Dr Orde examines the period between 1919 and 1924 in great detail, placing subsequent events in the historical context of wartime planning and concludes with the international economic conference of 1927. Special attention is paid to public policies and private institutions, particularly banking.

Letters from two farming brothers provide fascinating insights into rural life at the turn of the eighteenth century.The brothers Matthew and George Culley were successful farmers in Northumberland in the late eighteenth century. They contributed greatly to the improvement of agriculture in their area and beyond, notably through sheep breeding [the `Culley sheep' or Border Leicester], and also by practising and inculcating the use of modern techniques of husbandry and modern crop varieties. The letters presented here, written to the steward of the farms they ownedin County Durham, give a detailed day by day account of the Culleys' farming activities, advice and instructions on cultivation, the movement and selling of livestock, the state of the markets, local and family news, and commentson the state of the country. Written in a lively, readable style, they provide a vivid picture of and commentary upon the life of northern England at the time of important change in agriculture and society. Dr ANNE ORDE was until her retirement Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Durham.

Letters between a colliery manager and his employer provide valuable evidence for the growth and development of the coal trade in north-east England.John Buddle (1773-1843), the most eminent coal viewer and mining engineer and manager of his day, worked for a number of different coal owners in North-East England. In particular, for over twenty years he acted as colliery manager for Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. In this capacity Buddle wrote to his employer more than 2,000 letters, of which this book provides a selection. They give not only a detailed, and at times almost a day-to-day account of the coal trade of the Tyne and Wear at a time when the industry was expanding rapidly, but also a discussion of Lord Londonderry's always difficult financial affairs, of his local political activities, and the general condition of the region in a period of change. Buddle emerges from these letters as a self-confident professional man with far-reaching ideas tempered by prudence, ready to speak his mind and by no means always agreeing with his aristocratic employer, though ultimately always bowing to his decisions; Londonderry is revealed as ambitious, willful, and incapable of living within his means. The letters reveal the sometimes troubled relationship between the twovery different men, one that came close to breaking-point in 1841, though the breach was repaired before Buddle's death in 1843; more widely, they paint a vivid picture of north-east England in the early nineteenth century, of its politics, its economy, and its social situation at a time of lively development.Anne Orde is a retired Senior Lecturer in History, University of Durham.