This book is one of several written by Bennett about life in the Staffordshire Potteries in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The hero is Edwin Clayhanger, and we see him through his childhood, adolescence, early working life, when he was working for his martinet old father, and to the point where he inherits the business, which is printing.

Bennett comes from that area of industrial Britain, and the book rings true on every page.

The first edition of this book is dated 1910. The edition used is dated 1911. The publisher was Methuen. The number of pages is 572.

This book, published in 1902, was one of the first of Bennett’s books to achieve great recognition, for he had been writing for various magazines since he was still in his teens. A native of Stoke-on-Trent, which was then known as the Five Towns, since they had not yet coalesced into one conurbation, he writes evocatively of the Potteries as they were in the late nineteenth century, and of the life of the working people in that area.

Bennett considered himself to be a Socialist, but most people would think of him as a Champagne Socialist, as he rather enjoyed a good standard of living.

The characters in this book are beautifully drawn, and you will find it hard to forget them, especially the old miser.

The first edition of this book is dated 1902. The publisher was. The number of pages is 1.