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On 31 July 1902 the Mt Kembla coal mine in southern New South Wales exploded, killing 96 men. It is the worst disaster to occur on land in Australia's history.The explosion took place during a time of social and industrial upheaval, when safety issues had become a bargaining point between management and miners. The NSW coal industry was slowly emerging from the 1890's depression, and the miners were testing their industrial strength in the ArbitrationCourt.The Mt Kembla Disaster is a rich social history which traces these events from the decades preceding the blast, the frenetic rescue operation and mass funerals, through the series of acrimonious legal enquiries, to the divisive relief effort and the continuing commemoration of the disaster by thecommunity of Mt Kembla.Stuart Piggin and Henry Lee examine the disaster within the broader context of the social, political and industrial systems in which it was set. They conclude that, contrary to the common view that such catastrophes result in positive change, the Mt Kembla disaster had little long-term effect. Thelocal community compensated for political inertia with an intense internalisation of the trauma.