Disraeli vividly depicts the appalling conditions of the poor-their pitiful wages, their miserably overcrowded tenements, and their exploitation by the new breed of powerful industrialists-as an indirect plea for social and political reform and for the fulfilment of his dream of a new, more democratic England. perfect timing for this new edition ... with a brilliant introduction that throws fresh light on Disraeli's views, explains the novel's culutural roots and defends its place as an accomplished work of fiction in its own right