The Road to Wigan Pier

In 1936 George Orwell spent two months in Wigan, Barnsley and Sheffield, researching unemployment and social conditions in depressed northern England at the suggestion of his publisher, Victor Gollancz. The first half of the resulting book documents working-class life in the industrial areas of Lancashire and Yorkshire before the Second World War, from conditions in the mines to the struggle to put food on the table. Part two turns to Orwell's own middle-class youth and political awakening; he declares himself for socialism while asking why many who would benefit from it are likely to oppose it. Gollancz, who had wanted that half left out of the Left Book Club edition, added a critical introduction instead.

Jordan B. Peterson included it on his published book list.