Life in 1850. On the ground reporting from the heartlands of the Industrial Revolution. Angus B. Reach's evocative journey takes us to the heart of industrial Britain, inside the factories, down the mines, and into the homes of the working classes in the Northern and Midland counties of England. He takes us into the mills and cellars of Manchester and on an evening out in this cotton metropolis. We explore laudanum and the drugging of children, go into the homes and mills of the silk weavers, to the Yorkshire woollen factories, the Leeds flax mills, to the mines of Northumberland and Durham and on to the Staffordshire potteries and mines. This and much more. "Labour and the Poor", the acclaimed investigation into the poor of England and Wales, was undertaken from 1849 to 1851 by The Morning Chronicle, a leading London-based newspaper of the period. This remarkable series will take you into the cities, towns, and villages, into the mills, the factories, and the mines, hearing from the people themselves about their lives, their occupations, and their struggles for survival amidst the overwhelming poverty of the period. Brought to you in its entirety, for the very first time, this extraordinary and unsurpassed investigation will show what life was really like in the mid-19th century - on the ground reporting at its very best. In this series: Volume I: The Metropolitan Districts. Henry Mayhew. Volume II: The Metropolitan Districts. Henry Mayhew. Volume III: The Metropolitan Districts. Henry Mayhew. Volume IV: The Metropolitan Districts. Henry Mayhew. Volume V: The Manufacturing Districts. Angus B. Reach. Volume VI: The Rural Districts. Alexander Mackay and Shirley Brooks. Volume VII: The Rural Districts. Alexander Mackay and Shirley Brooks. Volume VIII: Wales. Special Correspondent. Volume IX: Birmingham. Charles Mackay. Volume X: Liverpool. Charles Mackay.