The Road to Wigan Pier

'We are living in a world in which nobody is free, in which hardly anybody is secure, in which it is almost impossible to be honest and to remain alive.' In 1936, at the behest of his publisher, George Orwell set out for Wigan to observe what life was really like in some of the most deprived areas of Britain's industrial heartlands. The result was a revealing and unflinching portrait of the working class of northern England. Brilliantly written, strongly opinionated, and uniquely affecting, The Road to Wigan Pier provides insights into the poverty caused by the Great Depression, from the horrendous working conditions in the mines to the daily struggle of working people to provide enough food for the family. It is followed by a personal and often humorous consideration of the state of socialism in the country. Part polemic, part social reportage, Orwell's classic work is a harrowing and intimate account of inequality filled with observations that remain relevant today.