This innovative work is established as the substantive exploration of the literary endeavours of working people and socialists over 200 years.H. Gustav Klaus challenges the complacent assumptions about working class and socialist literature as merely a "symptom", arguing that the literature of labour is an integral part of the historical development of the working class and deserves much closer attention.This work breaks away from the 'Great Tradition' and in revealing the rich source of creativity within the literature of labour, introduces an alternative tradition of English literature.