Classic 1845 novel offers a powerful indictment of the dehumanizing effects of mid-19th-century industrialization. Thomas Gradgrind raises his children, Tom and Louisa, in a sterile atmosphere of strict practicality. With no guiding principles, the young Gradgrinds sink into lives of desperation and despair, played out against the grim backdrop of Coketown, a wretched industrial community.
Here's a sample of other books in this Dover category
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens Heart-wrenching tale of Little Nell and her doting grandfather who flee from cold and brutal London in the 1840s to escape debt and to roam the English countryside as beggars.
