This book was originally published in 1981 at a time when mass unemployment had returned to the United Kingdom. Now reissued with a new Preface by the author's literary executor, the essays in this volume discuss in detail the damage that was being done to the community and the economy at national and regional levels as a result of government policy. There are chapters on the political and economic aspects of the problem, on the comparison with the inter-war years, on youth unemployment and on unemployment in each of the regions worst affected. The collection as a whole provides an authoritative overview of a central political issue of the late 20^th Century but one which still has resonance today as the post-Covid, post-Brexit UK economy teeters on the edge of recession.