At Ironbridge Gorge, a cradle of the Industrial Revolution, the latest wonders of engineering and metallurgical technology were to be seen in a spectacular natural setting in the 18th century. Barrie Trinder has created an invaluable anthology of the pioneering period when this corner of Shropshire was changing the world and was indeed, as Charles Hulbert described it in 1837, 'the most extraordinary district in the world'. This book brings new understanding of the gorge itself and the industrial monuments preserved there. This third edition has been completely revised and now comes in an attractive larger format, incorporating full colour illustrations. It has also been updated with new relevant information. It will continue to serve the same main groups of readers - local historians, educational groups and specialist historians - and, most of all, those general readers who know the area and recognise that something strange and seminal happened there that transformed not only Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale but the whole of our civilisation. The activity that once made the gorge so extraordinary has spread and grown to become a commonplace in modern industrial societies, leaving the place where it began a monument and a museum.