Penguin Classics Conditions of the Working Class in England

by Engels, Friedrich

• ISBN13: 9780140444865
• ISBN10: 0140444866
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1987-06-02
• Publisher: Penguin Classics

Summary

This, the first book written by Engels during his stay in Manchester from 1842 to 1844, is the best known and in many ways the most astute study of the working class in Victorian England. The fluency of his writing, the personal nature of his insights, and his talent for mordant satire allcombiine to make Engels's account of the lives of the victims of early industrial change an undeniable classic.

Author Biography

Born in Westphalia in 1820, Friedrich Engels was the son of a textile manufacturer. After military training in Berlin and already a convert to communism, Engels went to Manchester in 1842 to represent the family firm. A relationship with a mill-hand, Mary Bums, and friendship with local Owenites and Chartists helped to inspire his famous early work, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844. Collaboration with Marx began in 1844 and in 1847 he composed the first drafts of the Manifesto. After playing an active part in the German revolutions, Engels returned to work in Manchester until 1870, when he moved to London. He not only helped Marx financially, but reinforced their shared position through his own expositions of the new theory. After Marx’s death, he prepared the unfinished volumes of Capital for publication. He died in London in 1895.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Note on the text

Select bibliography

A chronology of Friedrich Engels

Map of Manchester c.1845

The Condition of the Working Class in England

The Labour movement in America

Preface to the American edition

Preface to the English edition

Explanatory notes

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.