Beyond Coal and Steel A Social History of Western Europe After the Boom

"This is an outstanding study of a major topical theme: the changes that have taken place in the structure, organization and orientation of the working class during the process of deindustrialization that has been underway since the 1960s. No one has analysed this transformation with this degree of thoroughness before, and, as Raphael shows, we are still living with its consequences. This is certainly an important book, and it has no rivals at the level of serious scholarship."
--Colin Crouch, University of Warwick
 
"This is comparative social history of deindustrialization in Western Europe at its best. Lutz Raphael has written an entirely convincing book that analyses transformations in the world of work, changes in the understanding of social classes and the impact of labour conflicts. Anyone wanting to know about changing social structures, life-course narratives of workers, unemployment, factory life, working-class neighbourhoods and de-skilling as well as re-skilling should read this book." "
--Stefan Berger, Ruhr-Universität Bochum