This is the first full-length study of the material and visual culture of the British labour movement in almost half a century. It draws together the fruits of recent research into a comprehensive material and visual analysis of the nineteenth-century labour movement's development. It analyses the meaning of 'labour things', the role they played in the lives of working people and the ways they have influenced the writing of labour history. Over ninety beautifully illustrated, expertly contextualised objects are used to narrate the history of British labour in its most crucial phase of development. Chapters on curation and preservation, a directory of museums where labour things may be seen, and a full bibliography complete the treatment of this important and rapidly developing field, making the book not just essential academic reading but a handbook for anyone who wishes to explore this vital part of our shared culture.

Acknowledgements
Foreword by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
Preface
Chapter One: Understanding Labour Things
(i). Introduction
(ii). Historiography
(iii). The Meaning of Labour
(iv). The Meaning of Things
(v). The Material World of the Working Class
(vi). Working-Class Things
(vii). Labour Things: Towards a Collective Narrative
Chapter Two: Images and Objects
List of Objects
(i). Origins of the Labour Movement
(ii). The Roots of Labour Politics
(iii). Labour, Socialism and Chartism
(iv). A Servile Generation?
(v). Great Depression, New Ideas.
(vi). Labour and Politics
Chapter Three: Preservation, Collections, Curation and Conservation
Chapter Four: Directory
Bibliography