Part I of the text was generally well-received and was even republished without Part II. He concludes Part I of the text by commenting upon the general aesthetic ugliness of industrialism. Orwell also observes the general physical degeneracy of Englishmen, noting their poor health and general malnourishment. Orwell also describes typical housing throughout much of Northern England and considers contemporaneous programs to build new housing. Orwell also notes the social situation of miners, including observations on personal hygiene, diet, and finances. The discussion includes coal mining techniques and the economics of coal production. He then considers the life lived by most coal miners in Wigan and other coal centers. Orwell begins by describing his experiences living in a boardinghouse run by the Brooker family, a disagreeable situation which he declares to be entirely normal for the area. Alongside the assertion, Orwell provides a critique of Socialism and Socialists. In Part I of the text he provides details about their lives and in Part II of the text he examines the idea that Socialism could provide a path out of mass unemployment and poverty. Orwell, commissioned by the Left Book Club to write a book about unemployment in England, travels to Northern England and lives in a slum while he investigates unemployment and poverty among coal miners in Wigan, Sheffield, and surrounding areas.
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