The Condition of the Working Class in England

Blackwell's 1958 edition of Engels' first book

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition thus. Hardback bound in the original green cloth. 22 × 14cm, xxxi + 386pp

Engels's view of capitalism as a justification for the rich to exploit the poor and uneducated had been developed in his first book The Condition of the Working Class in England of 1844. In often revolutionary language, it draws on his experiences while living in Manchester, then at the heart of the industrial revolution. Engels was horrified by the child labour, environmental damage, low wages, bad conditions, poor health, death rates – and the ‘social and political power of your oppressors’. Containing many important and ground-breaking early thoughts on socialism, the book is still widely relevant today.

Condition

A good sound copy. The spine is a little sun-faded and with a few small marks to the boards. Internally, the binding is secure, there is some marginal and underlining in red pencil but does not impede reading.