The iron industry was the catalyst for the Industrial Revolution, producing a vital source of iron without which none of the great engineering achievements of the Victorian age would have been possible. This book charts the growth of iron making from the Middle Ages, covering the importation of blast-furnace methods in the fifteenth century, the adoption of coke as a fuel in the eighteenth century, and the invention of mass-produced steel in the nineteenth century. The developing techniques of iron making, all explained in a non-technical style, make a story in their own right, but combined with the experiences of the masters and workmen who laboured at the furnaces and forges, this volume offers a truly comprehensive account of one of the most important industries of recent centuries.