Publisher's Synopsis
The 1984-5 Miners' Strike was the longestlasting, most bitter and most crucial industrial dispute that Britain has ever suffered. Future generations will no doubt find it astonishing that it was a 72-year-old citizen of the United States who brought about its successful outcome. Described as a `geriatric American butcher', Sir Ian MacGregor was born and bred in Scotland, has the fitness and appetite for work that many half his age would envy, and has spent most of his life building successful busin?sses and creating thousands of jobs. As chairman of the National Coal Board, he was brought into conflict with Arthur Scargill, leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. It was a confrontation which raised economic, political and social issues of the utmost gravity, and it brought the focus of public attention to bear on Sir Ian - one of the most extraordinary characters of the postwar industrial scene.
