At war against Napoleon near bankrupt English mill-masters experiment with a new factory system acquiring machines to replace men. A young worker leads the Luddites attacking mills and smashing machines. With increased assaults and even murder North England feels the grip of terrorism. Government agents attempt to suppress the rebellion. In 1812 there are more British troops in North England than fighting Napoleon in Europe. Against the Machine relates the story of the diverse characters caught in this conflict. It unveils the rank exploitation which marked the Industrial Revolution. Timely, intense and reflective of another, technological revolution: our own.

Once a teacher, theatre director and adjudicator, Brian Van Norman left those worlds behind to travel the planet with his wife, Susan, and take up writing as a full time pursuit. With three novels currently on the market: THE BETRAYAL PATH, Immortal Water and his latest, Against the Machine: LUDDITES, he is in the midst of writing a sequel titled AGAINST THE MACHINE: MANIFESTO, and is currently researching a third book for the trilogy. He has journeyed to every continent and sailed nearly every sea on the planet. His base is Waterloo, Ontario, Canada though he is seldom found there but for this year of the covid pandemic.

Brian Norman's profile page

No book could be more timely. As concern grows daily about the impact of technology on the planet, Brian Van Norman traces the origins of the first organised resistance to machinery during the infancy of the Industrial Revolution in England. His evocation of the Luddite movement in its Yorkshire heartland is vivid and inspiring. The passing of an old way of life before the Juggernaut of economic progress is portrayed through a convincing cast of characters aligned on both sides of what the writer accurately depicts as naked class war...Van Norman succeeds in representing their fears of a rapidly changing world beyond their control and the doomed path their attempted resistance has forced them along...Jane Austen meets Quentin Tarantino.

Huddersfield Local Historical Society

In muscular language, earthy and poetic, Van Norman evokes the beauty and harshness of the Yorkshire Moors in a manner vivid for any reader.

Ottawa Review of Books

Against the Machine: Luddites challenged my preconception of historical fiction novels and has emerged triumphant. Brian Van Norman has, without doubt, opened my eyes to a genre that hitherto I was predisposed to overlook. It is a skilfully crafted saga based closely upon events and people in Yorkshire, England, in 1812, full of twists and turns. Right from the first line, “It was snowing indoors.” it grabs your attention and won’t let go.

The Reading Room

Van Norman has just established himself as one of the great storytellers in the historical genre.

The Book Commentary