Product Description The first generation of postwar British labor historians tended to be preoccupied with working class activism. The history of the working class concentrated on trade unions, left-wing politics, parties, and activists. This book attempts to chart not only this struggle, but to describe and analyze the rich and varied tapestry of working class history as a whole. John Benson examines work, wages, incomes, and the cost of living; family, kinship, and community relations; the individual in the context of nation and class; and the labor movement in all its aspects. Review "John Benson has written an excellent survey of British working class history...I have no hesitation in praising it as a first-rate book, innovative and attractive to read, which deserves a second edition." -- Chris Wrigley, University of Nottingham"In this study, John Benson provides an eminently readable and scholarly synopsis and critique of recent research into the modern British working class. "-- Roger Davidson, University of Edinburgh About the Author John Benson is Professor of History, University of Wolverhampton.