A collection of 171 songs from medieval times to today that have either words or tunes from the local aural-folk tradition or relate to people or places of historical interest within the region, or were written by authors and composers resident in the area, which includes Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and the Birmingham-Black Country conurbation. The ballads are profusely illustrated with a wide variety of carefully chosen engravings and photographs.