This series taken an interdisciplinary approach to the humanities curriculum by relating literary studies to social issues and social history. Each volume examines novels that focus on a specific social issue of interest and importance. They define and overview the past and present of a social issue, then proceed to analyze selected literary work in the context of the social issue. Each chapter examines the historical background and plot of the work, the labor and workplace issues raised by the author, and the history of those issues since the text was published. The daily newspaper headlines, revealing deaths, illnesses, and injuries in the workplace, along with the ongoing decline of workers' rights, make this book an especially timely volume. Included are chapters devoted to such widely read texts as "Hard Times", "Life in the Iron Mills", "Bartleby the Scrivener", "The Grapes of Wrath", and several others. Just a few of the issues raised are low wages, long hours, workplace dangers, unemployment, sexual harassment, and the struggle of immigrants.