The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844

This remarkable account has had an enduring influence on social and economic studies and has remained in print since its first English publication in 1885. It was written, in German, by a youthful Friedrich Engels, the son of a German industrialist, who was already concerned - even angered - by the conditions he saw inflicted on the working classes as the Industrial Revolution gathered momentum.  His first visit to England (1842-44) and what he saw there with his own eyes fuelled his concerns and prompted him to make this formal study. It is a remarkably mature document for a 24-year-old. Engels set out to show that the working classes in factories were far worse off in terms of general health, life expectancy, working hours and working conditions than they had been in the agricultural environment that existed in previous centuries. The 18th-century inventions such as the spinning jenny and the spinning throstle led to the growth and proliferation of factories, and the increasing