The Condition of England Question

This book, intended for departments of history and politics, examines the social and political thought of the early Victorian period. It views the 'hungry forties' through the writings of the conservative Thomas Carlyle, the liberal John Stuart Mill and the socialist Friedrich Engels, reflecting the tensions of this key period of transition.

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This text views the "hungry forties" in early-Victorian England through the writings of the conservative Thomas Carlyle, the liberal John Stuart Mill, and the socialist Friedrich Engels. The growth of industrial cities, the emergence of working-class organizations and rising middle-class power, as well as revolutions abroad in 1848 made this a tumultuous time. These writers provide reflections on the tensions produced in this key period of transition to an industrial, democratic society.