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Tressell's novel is about survival on the underside of the Edwardian Twilight, about exploitative employment when the only safety nets are charity, workhouse, and grave. Following the fortunes of a group of painters and decorators and their families, and the attempts to rouse their political will by the Socialist visionary Frank Owen, the book is both a highly entertaining story and a passionate appeal for a fairer way of life. It asks questions that are still being asked today: why do your wages bear no relation to the value of your work? Why do fat cats get richer when you don't? Tressell's answers are "The Great Money Trick" and the "philanthropy" of an unenlightened workforce, who give away their rights and aspirations to a decent life so freely.
Intellectually enlightening, deeply moving and gloriously funny (complete with exploding clergyman), The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a book that changes lives....
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A much-celebrated and surprisingly modern novel, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists tells the story of a group of decorators (Tressell was one himself) who cope reasonably with their impoverished life until one of them, Frank Owen, starts handing out regular attacks on the greed and dishonesty of the capitalists who themselves "do nothing." But Owen’s words fall on deaf ears — that is, until the posher Barrington joins ranks with Owen in a fight for a fairer society. Peopled with credible characters and evocative speeches, the novel lends itself naturally to the spoken word medium. This newly abridged audio version concentrates on the social and political issues with particular relevance in today’s society. Narrator Tony Robinson, who stars as Baldrick in Blackadder is himself an active member of the Labour Party, and Stephen Twigg, former member of Parliament, is the voice of Barrington — bringing a new and exciting dimension to this important classic novel. ...
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