The Lancashire Working Classes c.1880-1930

Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire ... long-anticipated ... well worth the wait ... a significant contribution to the burgeoning social history of the Lancashire working class ... will be drawn upon in a range of debates on the historical sociology of work, the periodisation of class formation, the character of British working-class culture and on the contested relationship between social structures and political behaviour.

Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire ... considerable analytical skill and a rigorous attention to empirical detail ... absorbing and challenging ... innovative analysis of labour markets, recruitment and the search for work.

Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire ... an impressive, meticulously researched book ... Everyone interested in social and labour history, not only in Lancashire but far beyond, will find much to engage with in it.

A rich and rewarding book.

Northern History A valuable and substantial contribution ... Historians of the North will value the wealth of research reported in the text and detailed in the impressive bibliography. Social historians will benefit from the links drawn between this work and the debates which have engaged them for the past twenty years.

American Historical Review His ingenious statistical analysis of the 286 households affected by the [Pretoria Pit] disaster ... displays the historians' craft at its best.

Albion ... this is a very good and scholarly first work.

Albion All of the book's eight chapters engage with and challenge the existing historical literature and are skillfully linked to produce a challenging conclusion.

Albion ... the book makes excellent use of a very wide range of employers' records, trade union data, and other material.

Labour History Review Griffith's book will be seen by many as another welcome addition - and indeed important variation - on the corpus of literature which seeks to extend the frontiers of historical analysis of industrial communities by recourse to identity rather than social class.

Labour History Review The research is thorough, the interpretation inspired and the argument sustained in what constitutes a readable and fascinating contribution.

History Overall, Griffiths has produced a significant and valuable addition to the ongoing discussion of working-class development, as well as an extensive survey of Lancashire working-class attitudes, activities and lifestyles. In so doing, he has extended, but not concluded, the ongoing debate.

History Extensive and meticulous examination of the Lancashire working class ... an important and informative study.

Martin Pugh, BBC History Magazine Original and compelling.

English Historical Review Griffiths marshalls an impressive range of documentary evidence to argue for the continuities of key aspects of working-class life over t...