Comparative research into one branch of industry in two countries is not only peculiarly fascinating and, I hope, enlightening; it is also very expensive and I was only able to complete this project thanks to much generous support. My thanks are due in the first place to the German Historical Institute in London and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst; between autumn 1976 and spring 1978 they provided financial support which allowed me to engage in uninterrupted research in British archives and libraries. I am obliged too, to my former colleagues in the German Historical Institute for their help and ingenuity, which enabled me to employ this time usefully right from the start. The British Steel Corporation and its archivists, Mrs Hampson, Mr Charman, Mr Emmerson, Mr Hassall and Mr Newman were invariably obliging in providing excellent working conditions in the firm's regional archives. The same applies to their colleagues in the Public Record Office and the archive of the National Library of Wales.

In Germany too, it was primarily firms' archivists and their colleagues who gave me practical support in securing source material. I owe sincere thanks to Frau Dr Kohne-Lindenlaub in the Historisches Archiv of Fried, Krupp GmbH, Frau Kuhlborn in Werksarchiv Bochum of Fried. Krupp HUttenwerke AG, Herr Dr Baumann, the former head archivist, in the archive of August-Thyssen-Hiitte, Herr Herzog in the Historisches Archiv of Gutehoffnungshiitte AV and to Herr Dr Hatzfeld, the former head archivist in the archives of Mannesmann AG. I am equally grateful to the archivists of the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz and the Archives Nationales in Paris.

The results of this work are critically dependent on evaluating the contemporary technical literature of many countries.