Sheffield celebrated in book tracing city's history

A new book celebrates Sheffield and the way that its landscape and people combined to enable it to grow into the major city that it became.
Kelham Island Museum, sourrounded by waterKelham Island Museum, sourrounded by water
Kelham Island Museum, sourrounded by water

Sheffield – A Civilised Place, a history and gazetteer of the making of the city has been written by Duncan Froggatt, with photographs by Angela Harpham.

The book is a thematic history of Sheffield from prehistoric time s to the present day.

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It explores the development of the city through the essentials of a civilised life – shelter, energy, water and communications - often putting local developments in a national or international context.

The Parkway viaduct goes past Sheffield Canal BasinThe Parkway viaduct goes past Sheffield Canal Basin
The Parkway viaduct goes past Sheffield Canal Basin

It highlights notable buildings and places, from humble barns and cottages to factories and offices, to modern tower blocks, from churches to places of entertainment and recreation and diverse forms of transport and communication and other services.

The book features some of the key people involved in the creation of these places.

It is also comprehensively illustrated with more than 350 colour photographs and drawings.

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Pioneering engineering utilised water power from the local rivers to start the steel industry, the book points out.

The cover of Sheffield - A Civilised PlaceThe cover of Sheffield - A Civilised Place
The cover of Sheffield - A Civilised Place

These Sheffield rivers were the most intensely used of any in the world in the 18th century.

Without this advanced engineering Sheffield could not possibly have become the city it did, argues Duncan Froggatt.

Sheffield – A Civilised Place costs £14.99.

Copies are available from Sheffield Scene, The Famous Sheffield Shop, Hassop Station bookshop, Kelham Island Industrial Museum, Waterstones in Orchard Square and Totley library.

Order online at www.sheffield-made.com