The making of the English working class

E. P. Thompson

Why I looked at this book

The idea of Working Class solidarity benefits those who might otherwise be pitted against each other by employers. However, in the English rural working class there was vary much an idea that one shouldn't try to get above one's class. This idea can be seen, for example in the books Lark Rise to Candleford and was promoted by the ruling classes. I'm interested in how much identifying oneself as working class in the 19th century closed of certain avenues towards improving one's lot, and what effect this might have had on the economy of the time.