The invasion of AD 43 began the Romans’‘ settlement of Britain. The Romans brought with them a level of expertise that raised iron production in Britain from small localised sites to an enormous industry. Rome thrived on war and iron was vital to the Roman military establishment as well as to the civil population. In their pioneering work, David Sim and Isabel Ridge combine current ideas of iron making in Roman times with experimental archaeology. This book stretched far beyond dry theory and metallurgy alone; it covers all stages of this essential process from prospecting to distribution and describes the whole cycle of iron production. Clear photographs and line drawings illustrate the text well enough to allow keen readers to reproduce the artefacts for themselves. Fascinating to the general reader and all those with an interest in Roman history, this book in invaluable to students of archaeology and professional archaeologists alike. Dr David Sim is an archaeologist who ha combined studies of the technology of the Roman empire with his skills as a blacksmith. Dr Isabel Ridge is a mechanical engineer with a special interest in ancient technology.