Mill by David Macaulay
Epic And Educational
In Mill, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, David Macaulay
pays tribute to the historically important mills of 19th-century New
England. Using close-up pen-and-ink illustrations, Macaulay thoroughly
explains the Yankee ingenuity that went into the elaborate process of
running machines that were generated by the flow of water. In the case of
this cotton mill in the imaginary town of Wicksbridge, Macaulay also
demonstrates how important the mill was to a communitys economic and
social viability. In one scene, he shows the men and women celebrating
the framing of the mill with a festive, barn-raising-style party. Macaulay
tracks the mills history, expertly explaining how all its new fixtures and
materials reflect the political and industrial changes in the country. For
example, in 1852 the owner sides with his abolitionist wife and shuns the
use of Negro cloth, inexpensive cloth made from slave-picked cotton.
Instead he decides to start producing multi-colored, finer fabrics--a
decision that leads to the expansion of the mill and the introduction of the
steam engine. This is a finely woven offering, filled with technical

intricacies and intriguing historical details. But ultimately, Macaulays Mill is
generated by the human story that led to the building of New Englands
cotton mills--as well as their eventual demise. (Ages 9 and older) --Gail
Hudson
Personal Review: Mill by David Macaulay
It is said that in the course of one long human lifetime, places like Ohio
went from virgin wilderness to among the most industrialized regions on
earth, but the "blueprint" for the Midwest's growth as a center of industry
had its roots in the factory mills of New England. In Mill, the masterful
David Macaulay uses direct storytelling, combined with his appealing pen
and ink sketches, to bring to our comprehension the founding and
operation of a nineteenth-century water-powered textile mill. His tale here
takes a reader, young or old, through the development of the mill structure,
an event reminiscent of a rural barn raising, into the day to day workings of
this efficient industrial complex as it would have been at peak operation.
More than just a place of labor, the mills of New England and elsewhere
soon became the focal points of entire communities. As this book shows, if
a local resident did not himself work at the mill, then one of his relatives,
customers, or friends most certainly did. Macaulay pulls no punches, and
shows that work in a mill was demanding, dangerous, and strenuous.
There were long hours, sunup to sunset, every day except Sunday. David
Macaulay also elicits true feeling from his readers as the story wraps
around to the demise of the grand old mill, in a later age when industrial
evolution makes its processes redundant. Mill may lack some of the
grandeur of other Macaulay works such as Cathedral, Castle, or Pyramid,
but it has a lot to teach almost anyone, and in this author's hands, learning
is both spontaneous and enjoyable.
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