Tyneside

Book excerpt: Tyneside: A History of Newcastle and Gateshead from Earliest Times tells the glittering tale of the area, from the retreat of the icefields 10,000 years ago, through the coming of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, the glories of Northumbria, the stunning achievement of Bede of Jarrow, the building of the New Castle in 1080, and the dangerous beginnings of the coal trade, to the dizzying growth of the Industrial Revolution, the trials of the football team and its heroes, and the renewals of the 21st century. All this and a welter of supporting detail, anecdotes, traditions, and scholarly popular history can be found in this substantial history of Tyneside, Gateshead, and the River Towns. This is the intriguing tale of a unique, magical, and dynamic place, and the remarkable people who made it.