Top ten working-class heroes in books

Marc Mulholland is a professor of modern history at St Catherine’s College, Oxford. He specialises in the development of international socialism, the history of political thought, revolution and modern Ireland. He is the author of The Murderer of Warren Street, a study of Emmanuel Barthélemy. At the Guardian, tagged ten top working-class heroes in books, including:

The Chimes by Charles Dickens

For decades this Christmas story was at least as famous and beloved as A Christmas Carol. Its hero, Trotty, scrapes a living delivering messages for well-heeled customers. They tell him that his people are ungrateful and degraded. Trotty contemplates suicide, but supernatural visions teach him the importance of working-class pride and self-reliance. This is an inspiring story reminding workers never to give up.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue