LAUSR

band trade. Both of these essays explore examples of the tension between regional needs and the demands or the dominance of the center, and both provide eye-opening examples of the agency of regional actors in the face of national institutions of power. The collection opens with a foreword by Keith Wrightson and includes a list of contributors with biographical information about each. Though all contributors are naturally linked to the study of North East England, they nevertheless represent a range of expertise, experience, and place of origin. Thus, the collection offers broad perspectives in a number of ways. The essays are a bit uneven in terms of prose and clarity, but that is to be expected in a collection of work by a large group of individuals. My only complaint, which is fairly minor, is that occasionally some sloppy editing distracts from the arguments in the essays. In John Brown’s chapter, for example, there is more than one version of birth, marriage, and death dates for key members of the Bowes family. Apart from this, the collection is fairly accessible and truly fascinating. The most obvious audience would be specialists on the region, but I could see this text working with advanced undergraduates or graduate students in economic or business history courses.