The Classic Slum

“A vivid, unforgettable picture of the quality—or lack of it—of life in England among ‘ordinary’ people.”—Peter Stansky

Shaw said that poverty is the greatest crime. The Classic Slum provides a grim affirmation of the truth of his remark. In a study which combines personal reminiscences with careful historical research, the myth of the “good old days” is summarily dispensed with; Robert Roberts describes the period of his childhood, when a man could lose his job for belonging to a Union and when a family’s best clothes were likely to spend most weekdays at the pawnshop.

The main effect of poverty in Edwardian Salford was degradation, and despite great reserves of human courage, few could escape such a prison. The environment of slum housing and the atmosphere of hunger and insecurity created a culture blighted by ignorance, tedium, repression and a rigorous social stratification.