In this, his first published novel, George Gissing establishes the hallmarks of his life-long literary obsession with class, money and sex. Against the turbulent background of London in the late nineteenth century he explores the overwhelming obstacles that face men of education, intelligence and talent, who strive to escape from the artisan class into which they were born. The novel marks a turning point in the history of English fiction. Through his subversive treatment of the conventions of fiction, Gissing becomes a founding member of the new school of fin-de-siecle literary realism and anticipates the twentieth-century novels of D H Lawrence and George Orwell. This new edition includes a preface by Pierre Coustillas, a map of Arthur Golding's London by Richard Dennis, and a critical introduction and explanatory notes by Debbie Harrison.