Peter Timms – författare

In this provocative book, Peter Timms asks confronting questions. Why is contemporary art so in thrall to spruikers and promoters, and why do their extravagant claims so rarely match the reality? Why does the market have such power, and how does it dictate the sort of art we are allowed to see? Why are art schools, museums and the media apparently so eager to fall in line with commercial expectations?

Swindon Works 1930–1960 is a fully revised and enlarged edition of Working at Swindon Works 1930–1960, first published in 2007. It describes various aspects of the famous railway works of the Great Western Railway, later British Railways Western Region.Despite the disruption caused by economic depression, the Second World War, nationalisation and the transition from steam to diesel manufacture, the 1930s through to the 1950s was, in many ways, the greatest period in the Works’ long history. This book puts the company’s range of output into perspective and records the means by which it was achieved, particularly from the viewpoint of the workers but also from that of the company as a business.As with most historical research, this account is made up of fragments from many varied sources, not least from first-hand recollections of those who worked ‘inside’. This book, together with the companion In and Around Swindon Works, sets out, for the first time, a comprehensive account of this vast subject over a thirty year period. The author also confronts many widely held views and dispels some of the myths, one being that ‘everything that can be written about the GWR has already been written’.

Two men started the transformation from sleepy hilltop community into a thriving town. Gooch and Brunel chose the area near Swindon to build a factory for the Great Western Railway and for more than 140 years The Works was renowned for high-quality heavy engineering. Gooch, Armstrong, Dean, Churchward and Collett would be responsible for the design and building of some of the world’s finest locomotives and stock. In 1948 the GWR became British Railways and later diesels replaced steam.In the town of Swindon a job in The Works was known locally as working ‘inside’. After the peak in the 1920s when nearly 14,000 were employed there, the workforce was gradually eroded. Sadly, in March 1986, Swindon Works was officially closed. Much of the great factory was demolished but thankfully some of it remains as a retail outlet. It is now twenty-eight years since the final hooter blew but Swindon will long be remembered affectionately as a railway town.

MONA has done a lot more than just rescue a flagging tourism economy. It has changed the city’s body language, teaching it to stand up straight and look others squarely in the eye, even putting on a swagger in its step. From Hobart’s convict legacy, its spectacular natural setting, heritage architecture and climate, to crime rates, economic hardship and new developments, not to mention the game-changer that is MONA, Timms brings a wealth of fresh insights, exploring the city with a mixture of affection, admiration, frustration and sadness. He interviews a wide range of residents along the way – many of whom, given the weather, might be found in Gore-Tex and beanies. Those who have experienced Hobart as tourists will be surprised and intrigued by the complex society and history this book reveals. Those who live here will surely discover their city anew, propelled by the author’s fondness for it. Now with a new introduction where Tims reflects on what has been nothing short of a tourism-driven revolution since Hobart was first published in 2009.New edition of a classic with a new Introduction in which Timms reflects on how much – and how little – Hobart has changed since his book was first published in 2009, before MONA, before more people started moving there and before water restrictions in summerThe writing is wonderfully evocative – literary non-fiction at its finestForeword by Robert DessaixOriginally published as In Search of Hobart, this was the first book published in the City Series – the arrival of MONA means it has already been updated onceWill be supported with marketing campaign and local events