The Intellectual Life Of The British Working Classes

This is a landmark intellectual history of Britain?squo;s working classes from the preindustrial era to the twentieth century. Drawing on workers?squo; memoirs, social surveys, library registers, and more, Jonathan Rose uncovers which books people read, how they educated themselves, and what they knew. A new preface addresses the continuing relevance of the book amidst the upheavals of the present day.

?dquo;An astonishing book.?dquo;?dash;Ian Sansom, The Guardian

?dquo;A passionate work of history. . . . Rose has written a work of staggering ambition.?dquo;?dash;Daniel Akst, Wall Street Journal

Winner of the SHARP Book History Prize, the American Philosophical Society?squo;s Jacques Barzun Prize, and the British Council Prize cowinner of the Longman-History Today Book of the Year Prize for 2001; named one of the finest books of 2001 by The Economist.