The intense heat of the steel mills and the clatter of coal-filled locomotives once filled the streets of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Hardworking immigrants, iron rails, and anthracite coal from beneath the surface of the lush Lackawanna River Valley powered America's Industrial Revolution, and until World War II, the city reigned as a cutting-edge boomtown. Local journalist Cheryl A. Kashuba chronicles the history of Scranton from the glory days of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company and the Dickson Works through the post-Industrial decline and an eventual revitalization of the city. With a deft hand, Kashuba captures the spirit of a proud community and creates a fascinating portrait of the Electric City.

The history of the Cragg family, who lived in England until 1859 before emigrating to Sydney Australia. The story commences in the heart of England's Lake District in a Keswick poor house and moves to the towns of Workington and Cockermouth. The majority of the family, while in Cockermouth, enter the woollen mills in the midst of a socially tumultuous time where mass rallies call for significant political change and widespread enfranchisement. Hunger, disease, imprisonment and the hint of rebellion.