{"product_id":"2940152405613","title":"Brokenback","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 1970s is a boom period for the Australian coal industry. Steaming coal, coking coal, it doesn’t matter; customers from all around the world want it yesterday. On the east coast, inland from Newcastle on the South Maitland Coalfields, Tommy Gann drives a continuous miner, a machine that can fill a fifteen ton shuttle car in less than ninety seconds. From Western Australia, he was drawn to the Brokenback Mine to get away from unscrupulous people who’d caused a near-fatal accident to his father at a mine in the Collie Basin. Working nineteen hundred feet below the surface in the Greta Seam – with over ten feet of coal above him for a roof – is a new experience for him. Roof falls are a major concern. So is a shuttle car driver who lives a perilous existence with little concern for others. There’s the union man, determined to fight management tooth and nail for the benefit of the mineworker. There’s also a life outside the mine and the love for a woman Tommy can’t have. Then tragedy strikes and lives are changed forever. The Brokenback story is a tale of love, humour, tragedy, and drama. It describes the mateship between the mineworkers and the hardships they face in their everyday routine - and why they wouldn’t want to work anywhere else but the underground. It also looks at the sufferings of miners from earlier years, those who’ve contracted pneumoconiosis, a debilitating and, for most, a fatal lung disease.Some of the underground scenarios depicted in this book are based on the author’s experience working in underground coalmines. A number of events actually happened and, because of this, names and dates have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Barry Flanagan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47174605046000,"sku":"2940152405613","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940152405613_p0.jpg?v=1764020037","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940152405613","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}