The Classic Slum: Salford Life in the First Quarter of the Century (Pelican books)

Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1973. Paperback. Good. 8vo - over 7?" - 9?" tall. Penguin Books, a Pelican Book, first published in 1973; this is a 1983 printing. Trade Paperback in Good Condition. Clean and unmarked cover showing a detail of "View from a window of the Royal Technical College, Salford, 1924", by L.S.Lowry. Rear side of cover has a crease down it. Slight wear to corners, no spine creases, tight and solid glued binding, square. 13 historic monotone illustrations. In the first half of of the book, some pages have marked text, underlining, a few sentences highlighted, notes in the margins--none affects readability. Bernard Shaw said that poverty is the greatest crime. "The Classic Slum" provides a grim affirmation of the truth of t his remark. Roberts summarliy dispenses with the myth of the 'good old days'. He describes the period of his childhood when a man could lose his job for belonging to a union and when a family's best clothes were likely to spend mopst weekdays at the pawn shop. It was a period of slum housing, hunger, insecurity, a culture of ignorance, repression. The main effect of poverty in Edwardian Salford was degredation, and even great courage could not keep many out of prison. 266 pages with Appendices - three short stories, "Conducted Tour", Snuffy", and "Bronze Mushrooms"; Bibliography, Index. 5 x 8 inches. 1973, Penguin Books, England.