![]() ![]() The more narrow-minded communists and Marxists won't like it but one hopes that those with some insight might learn from it. Theorising is stronger at the end than during the main narrative but Rose is regularly challenging received wisdom throughout the book. However, make no mistake, this is an enormously accomplished piece of work. There's also one chapter, on the WEA, where he gets slightly carried away with his use of quotations. ![]() Only occasionally does this lead him into potential error, such as his benign view - based on a somewhat unrepresentative autodidact sample - of the impact of modern popular and consumer culture on working class life. This gives him the authority to legitimately and roundly debunk a whole swathe of 'top-down' theories about working class intellectual life. At all times, whenever possible, he goes to the voices of working class readers for his central data. It is both a hugely important piece of work and a brilliantly executed one. I can't add much more to the praise that other reviewers have rightly bestowed on this book. ![]()
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