Dr Mike Esbester is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth. His research explores the history of safety, risks and accident prevention in modern Britain, including a focus on why persuasive techniques (such as education) have been used, what messages they have conveyed, what they say about British society and what people thought of them. He is particularly interested in the role of non-governmental organisations like the British Safety Council, with whom he has been working for a number of years, including the initial enquiries that led to the rediscovery of the British Safety Council’s archive upon which this book is based.