Stephen Armstrong
George Orwell's ,Road To Wigan Pier ,documented poverty in 1930s Britainâ€”75 years later, aÂ journalist travels the same route and finds just how little has changed,The Road To Wigan Pier, is George Orwell's 1937 account of the bleak working and living conditions in the depressed north of England. In describing the misery of the country as it crawled out of a grim recession, he helped fuel a move for change that resulted in theÂ nation'sÂ modern welfare state and health service. This year is the 75th anniversary of Orwell's book and the postwar progress is receding. Many parts of Orwell's book revealÂ the same conditions as people living in poverty todayâ€”people livingÂ four to a room, shift workers "hot bedding," employers floutingÂ health and safety rules,Â and real job insecurity.Â More thanÂ 6 million people in the UK are living in poverty and are working.Â The authorÂ follows Orwell's original path and spends time with the people hit by the changes.Â He discovers shocking poverty, missing community, and a forgotten generation, as well asÂ acts of heroism, imagination, and optimism thatÂ offer hope and faith.
Politics,Nonfiction,Social Issues,Class
The Road to Wigan Pier Revisited