A kaleidoscopic picture of Britain in 1846, a nation on the brink of economic and social change as the Industrial Revolution deepened its impact

1846 was a pivotal moment in British history. This was the year in which Parliament repealed the Corn Laws, chipping away at the power of landowners and ushering in an age of free trade. It was also a time of social tension: child labor and slum housing would provide a seed-bed for political discontents that would intensify as the century progressed. In Ireland, the human tragedy of the Great Famine was entering its second year. Stephen Bates describes the events of an extraordinary year for a society in the grip of the Industrial Revolution, but also on the cusp of modernity.