This study breaks new ground in its analysis of how people both create and adapt to the process of industrialization. It offers a substantial scholarly case-study of the Potteries, which both complements and in some respects challenges studies of family structure in other areas during the nineteenth century. Marguerite Dupree focuses on family relationships - between husbands and wives, parents and children, individuals and their wider kin network - not in isolation, but in the context of the workplace and of other institutions within the community. She reveals the flexibility of nuclear families with regard to both work and welfare, and highlights the key role of women in shaping the responses of families to their circumstances. Her approach effectively combines demography with social history to offer many valuable insights into industrialization and its impact on family life.