“…a readable collection of interesting case studies on a topic likely to interest many political sociologists, historians, area specialists, and scholars of poverty and welfare in both the social sciences and the humanities… The breadth and innovative use of archival and literary sources make the work overall a trove of interesting ideas for comparative and historical researchers.” • Contemporary Sociology“This volume’s focus on the young, the homeless, and the unemployed is particularly welcome given the limited amount of scholarship within histories of poverty and welfare on these groups. The book’s underlying principles are of universal significance and will be of interest to the general reader of welfare history.” • Olwen Purdue, Queen’s University Belfast