The Road to Wigan Pier is Orwell"s sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions amongst the working class of industrial England before World War II. It includes a long section on his middle-class upbringing and the development of his political conscience, questioning British attitudes towards socialism. Orwell states plainly that he himself is in favour of socialism but points out the reasons why many people are likely to be opponents. The book grapples with the social and historical reality of Depression suffering in England, -- Orwell does not wish merely to enumerate evils and injustices but to break through what he regards as middle-class oblivion about their causes and solutions.