This detailed social history is concerned with the workers in the Yorkshire coal industry, their union, and the broader mining communities in which they lived from the formation of the Yorkshire Miners Association in 1881 through to the end of the First World War. The author reviews the policy and performance of the union at the district level, its involvement in both national and international miners' organizations, and the experience of the union and mining community in a number of important industrial actions, including struggles for an eight-hour day and minimum wage.