This was for me this best book I have ever read about the history of working and lower class families. I'm not convinced that Dr. Eiirch meant for it to be that way but that was I took away from it. It was very readable for a book that covered so much territory. We in the USA have been handed a lot of information about the " haves " but not much about the " have nots " of the past. It's true that the winners write the history but this foray seemed to shed some light into a world we know was there but wasn't deemed worthy of telling of. I really enjoyed it!