Glynis Cooper – författare

Born of private means, educated and eloquent, Robert Rose was once a fixture in the literary circles of 19th-century Manchester and Liverpool, but now nearly erased from history. Rose wrote poetry tinged with longing, loss, and quiet resistance. This deeply researched biography brings Rose back into the light, uncovering his words, his world, and the legacy he left behind. Though many questions remain, his story of displacement, artistic ambition, and the struggle for recognition resonates powerfully today. The Bard of Colour, Robert Rose brings Rose out of obscurity and into the light. This compelling biography explores his work, his world, and the prejudice he faced, offering a rare window into Black British life in the Victorian era.

Interest in the theft of cucumbers initially took precedence over news that war had been declared, but Stockport rallied quickly. Wakes week was cancelled, the local 6th Battalion of the Cheshires went to the Front and the town transformed half of its schools into much-needed military hospitals. Admirably, the remaining schools coped with double the number of children but education suffered little. At the time, Stockport was two towns; the millscapes around the Mersey and the Goyt and the wealthier genteel suburbs bordering the Cheshire countryside. Economy and efficiency in the use of food and fuel was preached in the local paper alongside advertisements for silks, satins, velvets, furs and evening gowns. The cotton and hatting trades, transport and agriculture, suffered badly from loss of resources and manpower but resisted the use of female labour with great hostility. Food, fuel and lighting restrictions caused problems and there were accusations of profiteering and hoarding. Always in competition with Manchester, Stockport folk did things their way. Following Zeppelin attacks on the east coast, street lights were ordered to be partially shaded.Manchester shaded its lights from the top, while Stockport shaded its lights from the bottom, causing confusion in the darkened streets below and prompting one wit to write that while Manchester was expecting attacks from Zeppelins, Stockport was clearly expecting attacks from submarines.However, despite much political and material disaffection, the townsfolk united firmly against the kaiser. This book is is a timely reminder of how the local community worked together to provide munitions for the war, food parcels and comforts for the troops while 'keeping the home fires burning.'

Few could believe that within twenty years of the war to end all wars being wonthe world was once more at war. Veterans of the Great War feared going throughthe same horrific experience again and, even worse, many knew that this time theirchildren would also be involved in the fighting. What had all the sacrifice been for?Manchester had been badly hit by the Great War with many lives lost, familiesripped apart, industries destroyed. The cotton industry never recovered; especiallysince Japan, China and India offered cheaper cotton goods. Building and economicrecovery had been hindered by the Great Depression.The city was not ready to face another war, nor for the ferocity of the aerial attacksunleashed, nor for the treachery of the Black-Shirts. Yet somehow Manchester foundthe strength to unite against the enemy once more and ensure that Germany wouldnever be victorious.This book chronicles the difficulties, hardships, restrictions and morale of thecity year by year as the war dragged on, and is a timely reminder of how the localcommunity strived to fight the odds that were stacked against them.

English schoolchildren are taught that Sir Richard Arkwright invented the water-frame and was the father of the Industrial Revolution and the factory system.' That is simply not true. The water-powered spinning frame and the modern factory system' were pioneered in Italy over 300 years before Richard Arkwright was born.This book tells the story of how the Industrial Revolution in textile manufacture really began. Not in England with Richard Arkwright and the English cotton industry, but in Italy, with Italian Renaissance engineers and the Italian silk industry. Proof lies in the achievements of medieval Italian engineering, English archives and English legal case records.Italy was the leading technological power in Europe from the 13th to the 17th centuries. The Italian Renaissance and the devastation caused by the Black Death (1347-49) brought forth a wealth of technological innovation and invention and the Italians automated much of the production of silk fabrics, using water as their power source, because there were no longer enough people left alive to carry out the work.English organzine was inferior to Italian organzine. In the first recorded case of industrial espionage a young Derby engineer resolved to steal Italian silk manufacturing secrets. Water powered silk throwing machinery, reconstructed by John Lombe from his stolen plans and drawings, provided the blueprint for water powered cotton spinning machinery (water frame), and Cromford Mill, (built 1771), was modelled on Derby Silk Mill (built 1719).This book marks the 300th anniversary of John Lombe's premature death. Part of the mystery surrounding his actions is why has the truth been concealed for so long and why has the Italian connection remained unacknowledged? It is time to place this episode of history in a proper context, to set the record straight, and to fully acknowledge the part played by Italy in the English Industrial Revolution.