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The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 with a Preface written in 1892 Kindle Edition

by Friedrich Engels (Author), Florence Kelley (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 223 ratings
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  1. Print length
    218 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    March 30, 2011
  5. File size
    812 KB
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004UJ35OK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (March 30, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 30, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 812 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 218 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 223 ratings

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Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels

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Friedrich Engels (English /ˈɛŋɡəlz/ or /ˈɛŋəlz/; German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈɛŋəls]; 28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895) was a German philosopher, social scientist, journalist and businessman. He founded Marxist theory together with Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research in Manchester.

In 1848 he co-authored The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx, though he also authored and co-authored (primarily with Marx) many other works, and later he supported Marx financially to do research and write Das Kapital. After Marx's death, Engels edited the second and third volumes. Additionally, Engels organised Marx's notes on the "Theories of Surplus Value," which he later published as the "fourth volume" of Capital. He has also made contributions to family economics.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
223 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

snazzmo
5.0 out of 5 stars essential reading for western civilization
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2013
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This book is scary as hell. It's about the workers whose efforts made the industrial revolution possible, and how they lived at the time. These workers were treated worse than animals by their bosses. They lived in conditions of appalling filth and deprivation. They routinely starved to death on their wages, or died of disease. This is some of the ugliest non-fiction you'll ever read. This was only 200 years ago, but it reads like a report from an ancient land run by a bunch of sadistic dictators. The company owners did not give a damn in hell for their workers and considered themselves generous for offering jobs at starvation wages. Don't bother reading the works of Karl Marx unless you read this book as well - it provides the critical historical context for Marx's theories. It also provides a cautionary tale about repeating the history we don't remember. Right now, organized labor is a fading memory in the U.S. But there was a reason labor struggled so hard to organize, and this book tells all about it.
8 people found this helpful
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John Campbell
4.0 out of 5 stars Understand why we still have Communists and Socialists
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2020
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I rate this as a four on style and passion and because the kindle edition was decently curated. I am not myself a Communist or a socialist but after reading this, it is readily understandable why so many multitudes have become both of these things. Engels paints a vivid and detailed picture of what life in a North English town was like at ground zero of the Industrial Revolution (and what it must be like now in such towns elsewhere). You are with him on the banks of the appropriately named River Irk, a slurry of filth and pollutant meandering through hovels and tenements in Manchester. You cannot look away from the benighted Mancunian workers and their families who inhabit these places. In later times, much has been achieved through incremental reform, but given the description of politics as they existed in 1844, it's easy to see why Engels thought reformism was a mug's game. Even if you're not a left wing person (and have no plans to become one) this is definitely worth a read.
One person found this helpful
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William E. Wallace
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic of Both Investigative and Environmental Journalism
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2014
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Most people think of Marx and Engels as the authors of Capital and the Communist Manifesto. I think of Engels as a man who almost single-handedly invented investigative reporting of the muckraking sort in this 1844 classic. Poring over volumes of government records, Engels detailed how the industrial revolution disrupted English society, undermined public health and resulted in the immiseration of the British working class.
5 people found this helpful
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Ida L. Kjonaas
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2014
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Interesting
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Kerri
5.0 out of 5 stars Smooth transaction
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2014
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A+
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2017
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Still reading
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Ferdi Kruger
4.0 out of 5 stars Friedrich Engels in England
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2013
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This appears to be a well researched document, and in the translated version the English language use is excellent. Thought provoking, even if one does not always agree with proposed sulutions. In a time when the leading first world coutries are experiencing increasing income disparities, the situation in England during the industrial revolution is indeed enlightening, and it would be a good book to read for anybody interested in life, the universe, everything. It surely is affecting my personal life philosophy...
2 people found this helpful
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John J. Schmitz "JJ"
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellant Resource Manual
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2013
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In today's politicla clime's I was curious just how far advanced my country was trodded down the Socialist road. This book is a must have for anyone interested in social reform.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Igor Palmeira
5.0 out of 5 stars Incrivelmente detalhado
Reviewed in Brazil on July 13, 2018
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Se pensarmos que o autor escreveu essa obra aos 24 anos, é difícil não reconhecer sua capacidade intelectual.

É uma descrição rica e incrivelmente detalhada da realidade das cidades inglesas de 1840s. As moradias, rotinas, ruas, fábricas, famílias, costumes, valores, nada é menosprezado.

Concordando ou não com os próximos trabalhos desse autor com Marx, é totalmente compreensível o porquê na insistência da necessidade de mudanças sociais.
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Digital Panache
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow. What a book.
Reviewed in India on November 5, 2018
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It is so difficult to even envisage a topic like this to write about and full marks to the author to think about writing on this topic. This is a very important cause and it throws light on the struggles that brought about industrial revolution. It is about the pain that workers went through during this time.
This book also talks about the moral dilemmas of the capitalists and their priorities regarding pushing through industrial revolution in a scenarios where workers went through terrible times. Although, it is of the past and the past cannot be changed, this book acts as guidance for future capitalists and the society to take cues and make sure that workers's living conditions are improved. That is one big takeaway from the book.
This book is many in one
1) An eye opener
2) A guide
3) A practical approach
4) Full of past knowledge
A great book.
Customer image
Digital Panache
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow. What a book.
Reviewed in India on November 5, 2018
It is so difficult to even envisage a topic like this to write about and full marks to the author to think about writing on this topic. This is a very important cause and it throws light on the struggles that brought about industrial revolution. It is about the pain that workers went through during this time.
This book also talks about the moral dilemmas of the capitalists and their priorities regarding pushing through industrial revolution in a scenarios where workers went through terrible times. Although, it is of the past and the past cannot be changed, this book acts as guidance for future capitalists and the society to take cues and make sure that workers's living conditions are improved. That is one big takeaway from the book.
This book is many in one
1) An eye opener
2) A guide
3) A practical approach
4) Full of past knowledge
A great book.
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Lanthanium
5.0 out of 5 stars Schilderung einer weltweiten Misere am Beispiel Englands
Reviewed in Germany on September 15, 2017
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“The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844“ von Friedrich Engels erschien zuerst 1845 in Deutsch und wurde nach der Einleitung im eBook erst im Jahr 1885 ins Englische übersetzt. Engels war der Sohn eines Textilfabrikanten, der Fabriken in Manchester unterhielt. Von seinem Vater war Engels nach England geschickt worden und konnte sich aus erster Hand ein Bild über die Arbeitsbedingungen der englischen Arbeiter machen. Der “Manchester-Kapitalismus“ galt als eine der schlimmsten Formen der Ausbeutung von Arbeitern.

Als Folge der industriellen Revolution des 18. Jahrhunderts waren durch die Erfindung von textilverarbeitenden Maschinen und die Nutzung der Dampf- und Wasserkraft industrielle Ballungsräume mit Fabriken entstanden, die die Arbeitskräfte des Landes aufnahmen und sogar einen stetigen Nachschub an Arbeitern benötigten. Aber weiterer technischer Fortschritt setzte schließlich immer mehr Arbeitskräfte frei, die keinerlei sozialer Absicherung unterlagen und im Falle von Arbeitslosigkeit oft dem Tod durch Verhungern ins Auge sehen mussten. Der Lohn war durch die Konkurrenz durch Maschinen ebenfalls massiv gedrückt worden. Menschen konnten von ihrem Lohn kaum noch leben. Engels schreibt hier, dass die Situation dieser Arbeiter schlimmer war als der von Sklaven, da der Sklavenhalter für seine Arbeitskräfte etwas bezahlt hat und am Erhalt ihres Lebens und ihrer Arbeitskraft interessiert ist, während der Industriearbeiter im Falle von Arbeitslosigkeit verrecken konnte, ohne dass es einen Fabrikbesitzer interessiert.

Verschlimmert wurde die Situation der englischen Arbeiter noch durch die Einwanderungswelle aus Irland. Die Iren arbeiteten für noch geringere Löhne und lebten in den Fabrikstädten nicht besser als Tiere in Ställen. Hinzu kam, dass Frauen und Kinder für noch geringere Löhne arbeiteten, so dass ursprünglich arbeitende Familienväter durch Frauen und Kinder verdrängt wurden, was zudem die Familien zerstörte. Erst im Laufe der Zeit gab es soziale Anstrengungen, die Kinderarbeit auf zwölf Stunden pro Tag (6 Arbeitstage) zu beschränken und den Kindern eine minimale Schulbildung zukommen zu lassen. Engels beschreibt hier Lebensbedingungen, die man sich nicht einmal ansatzweise in einem durch das Christentum geprägten Land vorstellen kann. Besonders die Situation der kleinen Kindern, die teilweise schon im Alter von fünf oder sechs Jahren extrem lange Schichten in den Fabriken arbeiten mussten, ist herzerweichend. Er zitiert z.B. aus einem arbeitgeberfreundlichen Bericht über Fälle von Kindern, die abends neben ihrem Bett bereits beim Beten vor lauter Erschöpfung einschlafen (wenn sie überhaupt Betten hatten, denn die Beschreibung der Arbeiter-Wohnungen ist ebenfalls grauenhaft). Engels geht auch sehr detailliert auf die gesundheitliche Situation der Arbeiter ein. Einerseits sind sie durch Unfälle in den Fabriken massiv gefährdet, denn es fehlt am Arbeitsschutz, andererseits breiten sich in ihren slumartigen Wohnsiedlungen leicht Epidemien aus (Typhus, Cholera, Tuberkulose, alle möglichen fieberhaften Infekte) und konnten auf ganze Städte übergreifen. Da dann auch die bürgerliche Bevölkerung und der Adel durch Krankheiten betroffen war, hatte man von Seiten des Staates und der Gemeinden ein (geringes) Interesse daran, die städtebaulichen Missstände nicht überhand nehmen zu lassen.

Interessanterweise erwähnt Engels in diesem Buch, dass bereits im Jahr 1824 Gewerkschaften existierten, die aber wenig Einfluss hatten, da sie keine besonders wirksamen Streiks organisieren konnten. Die Fabrikbesitzer fanden im Reserve-Heer der Arbeitslosen genug Streikbrecher, die sie engagieren konnten. Er beschreibt auch, dass frustrierte Arbeiter sich durch Diebstahl, Brand- und Bombenanschläge auf Fabriken für die vorherrschend Ausbeutung rächten und Rückhalt in der ausgebeuteten Bevölkerung fanden.

Engels geht im weiteren Verlauf des Buches auch noch auf die Arbeitsbedingungen in der Montan-Industrie ein. Beim Kohlebergbau arbeiteten die Menschen unter so miserablen Umständen, da jährlich etwa 1.500 Arbeiter bei Bergwerksunfällen ums Leben kamen. Diejenigen, die nicht den häufigen Unfällen in den Stollen zum Opfer fielen, hatten eine extrem kurze Lebenserwartung. In der Stahlindustrie verkürzen Berufskrankheiten wie die Metallstaublunge der Schleifer das Leben der Arbeiter um Jahrzehnte. Er erläutert das "Truck- und Cottage-System", bei dem die Arbeiter in werkseigenen (teureren) Läden einkaufen mussten (!) und in fabrikeigenen Hütten untergebracht waren. Wenn sie streikten, konnten sie einfach ihre Unterkunft verlieren und waren mit der gesamten Familie obdachlos.

Durch Friedrich Engels Buch erhalten wir Leser einen sehr plastischen Eindruck in die himmelschreienden sozialen Missstände dieser Zeit, die als eine treibende Kraft hinter der Entwicklung des Kommunismus stand. Bereits vor 1844 gab es interessanterweise Arbeiter-Vereinigungen und ein geringes Maß an staatlicher Aufsicht, die sich in ganz geringen Eingriffen zum Arbeitsschutz und zur Bildung der Arbeiter zeigten.

Für die deutsche Version müssen wir bezahlen; die englische Übersetzung gibt es für den Kindle erfreulicherweise sogar umsonst. Das Buch ist exzellent geschrieben und hat mich wirklich gepackt. Ich bin noch nicht ganz durch, habe aber für die Hälfte des Buches etwa zwölf Stunden gebraucht.

Nachtrag vom 19.10.2017:

Ich habe jetzt gerade in einer 2016-Ausgabe von "Bild der Wissenschaft" gelesen, dass Menschen im Congo unter den Bedingungen wie 1844 in England in den dortigen Minen Erze für den Weltmarkt fördern. Dort werden teilweise auch schon sechsjährige Kinder als Minenarbeiter missbraucht. Fehlender Arbeitsschutz und Minen-Unglücke sind dort heute anscheinend genauso aktuell wie vor 170 Jahren in England.
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Paul A
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in Canada on October 26, 2015
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It is amazing read.
 The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 with a Preface written in 1892
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judith
5.0 out of 5 stars The Conditions of the Working Class
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2013
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I read the 'hard copy' several years ago and I have to say that the Kindle copy was not as good. Same book but the difficulty in viewing maps etc made it a less enjoyable read. Brilliant, classic, book though and a must for anyone interested in social history.
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