First published in 1973. This title aims to use contemporary documents to illustrate the attitudes and relationships of working men towards each other and against other groups in society in the years 1815 to 1850. The material comes under three headings; the analysis of class in terms of economic and political theory; class relations in the years between the end of the French wars and the move into mid-Victorianism; and finally, the response to the more disturbing aspects of class by the appropriate vehicles of social control. This title will be of interest to students of history.

Although politicians in Britain are now calling for a "classless society," can one conclude, as do many scholars, that class does not matter anymore? Cannadine uncovers the meanings of class for such disparate figures as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Margaret Thatcher and identifies the moments when opinion shifted, such as the aftermath of the French Revolution and the rise of the Labour Party in the early twentieth century.

First published in 1972, this collection of essays by R. S. Neale focuses on authority, and the responses and challenges to it made by men and women throughout the nineteenth century. Employing a more sociologically-minded approach to history and specifically using a ‘five-class’ model, the book explores features of class and ideology in Britain and its Empire. It includes a range of case studies such as the Bath radicals, the members of executive councils in the Australian colonies, and the social strata in the women’s movements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This book will be of interest to those studying Victorian history and sociology.

The book outlines how class is single most important factor in understanding the British army in the period of industrialisation. It challenges the 'ruffians officered by gentlemen' theory of most military histories and demonstrates how service in the ranks was not confined to 'the scum of the earth' but included a cross section of 'respectable' working class men. Common soldiers represent a huge unstudied occupational group. They worked as artisans, servants and dealers, displaying pre-enlistment working class attitudes and evidencing low level class conflict in numerous ways. Soldiers continued as members of the working class after discharge, with military service forming one phase of their careers and overall life experience. After training, most common soldiers had time on their hands and were allowed to work at a wide variety of jobs, analysed here for the first time. Many serving soldiers continued to work as regimental tradesmen, or skilled artificers. Others worked as officers' servants or were allowed to run small businesses, providing goods and services to their comrades. Some, especially the Non Commissioned Officers who actually ran the army, forged extraordinary careers which surpassed any opportunities in civilian life. All the soldiers studied retained much of their working class way of life. This was evidenced in a contract culture similar to that of the civilian trade unions. Within disciplined boundaries, army life resulted in all sorts of low level class conflict. The book explores these by covering drinking, desertion, feigned illness, self harm, strikes and go-slows. It further describes mutinies, back chat, looting, fraternisation, foreign service, suicide and even the shooting of unpopular officers.