"Thompson's book has been called controversial, but perhaps only because so many have forgotten how explosive England was during the Regency and the early reign of Victoria. Without any reservation, The Making of the English Working Class is the most important study of those days since the classic work of the Hammonds."--Commentary"Mr. Thompson's deeply human imagination and controlled passion help us to recapture the agonies, heroisms and illusions of the working class as it made itself. No one interested in the history of the English people should fail to read his book."--London Times Literary Supplement

E.P. (Edward Palmer) Thompson was born in England in 1924 and graduated from Cambridge in 1946 with a degree in history.?The Making of the English Working Class was instantly recognized as a classic upon its publication in 1963 and secured his position as one of the most influential historians?of the twentieth century.?Thompson was also a fervent activist and a key figure in the ending of the Cold War. He died in 1993.