The romance of Elizabeth Gaskell’s famous novel ‘North and South’ is set against the harsh industrial backdrop of her own city of Manchester, thinly disguised as ‘Milton’ in her writing. Her description of industrial strife between millowner John Thornton and his workers, and heroine Margaret Hale’s sympathy for the working classes has led it to be described as a ‘condition of England’ novel. So, what was the real social and industrial backdrop to ‘North and South’? Was Thornton’s factory lockout based on real events? And how did Gaskell imagine class conflict could be resolved? Join Dr Michael Sanders from Manchester University to find out more.

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