This book presents Frederich Engels' study of the working class in Victorian England. It was the first book written by him during his stay in Manchester from 1842 to 1844. The personal nature of his insights and his mordant satire are reflected in this account of the lives of the victims of change. Manchester was then at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, and Engels compiled this study from his own observations and from contemporary reports, illustrating the plight of industrial workers in England in the 1840s.