There are many heroes in the Industrial Revolution, but Emma Griffin concentrates on autobiographies written by the working class between 1760 and 1900. Dark Dickensian notions that creeping industrialisation brought only misery and poverty are challenged in this revisionist account that includes vivid entries from miners, factory workers, servants and farm workers about their complex, untidy lives. Some of the autobiographers describe young unmarried mothers who managed without a male breadwinner by going to work at a factory. But it was men who mostly benefited from access to education, increased wealth and labour mobility. Working men “acquired a voice for themselves and the capacity for action.” If this all sounds very scholarly, it is. But while the author’s purpose is a serious study, this won’t prevent anyone from lapping up the inspiring stories in this meaty and satisfying book.
