In this talk Jonathan Rose provides an intellectual history of the British working classes from the pre-industrial era to the 20th century. Drawing on workers’ memoirs, social surveys, library registers and more, Jonathan uncovers which books people read, how they educated themselves and what they knew. He will discuss the history of people who were not expected to think for themselves and explore the politics, ideology, popular culture, and social relationships across two centuries of the British working-class experience.

Jonathan Rose is the founder and past president of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing and co-editor of the journal Book History. He is Professor of History at Drew University (New Jersey), where he directs the graduate programme in book history.

The event was organised in partnership with Newham Bookshop and chaired by Juliet Gardiner, an author, broadcaster and former editor of History Today.