The Industrial Revolution Transformed British Popular Culture

The physical divide between classes was noticeable in the newly industrialised cities. The working class were placed in the inner city, surrounding the factories and places of work. Aside from well maintained areas of city centres where you would find fine town houses, the dominant classes would reside in the suburbs, on the outskirts of cities. This segregation meant that the working class areas of a city were neglected and soon found themselves having to deal with poverty, disease and crime. These inner city 'slums' were invested and commented on by many sociologists, journalists and researchers, who found out for themselves the conditions under which these people were almost forced to live under. Marxist, Frederick Engels studied Manchester closely when writing his book 'The Conditions of the Working class in England':
'I shall now have to prove that English society has created an environment in which they cannot remain healthy or enjoy a normal expectation of life...in the unwholesome atmosphere of the working class quarters where...everything combines to pollute the air. The way in which the vast mass of the poor are treated by modern society is truly scandalous.'
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