The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists/Robert Tressell

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a classic representation of the impoverished
and politically powerless underclass of British society in Edwardian England, ruthlessly
exploited by the institutionalized corruption of their employers and the civic and
religious authorities. Epic in scale, the novel charts the ruinous effects of the
laissez-faire mercantilist ethics on the men, women, and children of the working
classes, and through its emblematic characters, argues for a socialist politics
as the only hope for a civilized and humane life for all. It is a timeless work
whose political message is as relevant today as it was in Tressell's time.

For this it has long been honoured by the Trade Union movement and thinkers
across the political spectrum.