Transforming the Countryside

This edited collection of essays shows how new electrical technology changed rural life in Britain in the twentieth century, drawing comparisons with other countries and periods. It is concerned not only with the changing availability and different forms of electrical supplies to various parts of the country, but also with the effects of electrification on domestic and economic life and on rural culture.

1. Introduction
[Paul Brassley, Jeremy Burchardt and Karen Sayer]
Part I: The Progress of Electrification
2. The Electrification of the Countryside: The Interests of Electrical Enterprises and the
Rural Population in England, 1888-1939
[Karl Ditt]
3. Power to the People: Power Stations and the National Grid
[John Sheail]
4. Lighting the Landscape: Rural Electrification in Wales
[Richard Moore-Colyer]
5. The Electrification of Highland Scotland
[David Fleetwood]
6. Electrifying Farms in England
[Paul Brassley]
Part II: The Effects of Electrification
7. Electrification and its Alternatives in the Farmer's and Labourer's Home
[Karen Sayer]
8. Pylons and Frozen Peas: The Women's Institute Goes Electric
[Rosemary Shirley]
Part III: Comparisons over Space and Time
9. Rural Electrification in Sweden: A Comparison
[Carin Martiin]
10. People, Place and Power: Rural Electrification in Canada, 1890-1950
[Ruth W. Sandwell]
11. Rural Broadband: A 21st-Century Comparison with Electrification
[Martyn Warren]
12. Conclusion: Electricity, Rurality and Modernity
[Paul Brassley, Jeremy Burchardt and Karen Sayer]