Tish Murtha's photographic essay on the hardships of youth unemployment in Newcastle during the Thatcher years. The photographs were shot over a few years starting in 1979 and exhibited at Newcastle's Side Gallery in 1981. They captured the hardship that the North East of England suffered during the Thatcher era. It really was a desperate time - a period of bitter conflict as young people grew more and more frustrated with an economic system that deprived them of a productive and meaningful future.

Youth Unemployment is a key body of work in British documentary history. Its subject matter was the appalling waste of young people’s lives, which badly thought out government job creation schemes did little to alleviate. Tish’s images are hard-hitting yet not without humour. Her closeness to those she photographed – many were family or friends – is apparent in the remarkable series of images in this book.

This is the Hardback First Edition.