First published in 1947 as the fourth edition of a 1920 original, and delivered during 1919 as lectures to students of economics at the University of Cambridge, this book examines the climate surrounding life and labour in Britain in the nineteenth century. Fay analyses the international and local political structures affecting the way the British lived and worked, as well as the role played by social reformers such as Robert Owen. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in British economic history.