John Burnett (1925–2006) was Professor of Social History at Brunel University. His research was concerned with the day-to-day lives of ordinary people. He was the author of Plenty and Want (1966), A History of the Cost of Living (1969), A Social History of Housing, 1815-1985 (1986), Liquid Pleasures: A Social History of Drinks in Modern Britain (1999) and England Eats Out: A Social History of Eating Out in England from 1830 to the Present (2004). With David Vincent and David Mayall, he published the three-volume annotated bibliography, The Autobiography of the Working Class (1984-1989).

• Preface. Acknowledgements. Preface to the Second Edition. Part I: 1815–1850 1. People and Houses 2. The Cottage Homes of England 3. The Housing of the Urban Working Classes 4. Middle-Class Housing Part II: 1850–1914 5. Housing the Labourer 6. Housing the Multitude 7. Housing the Suburbans Part III: 1918–1985 8. Council Housing 1918–1939 9. Speculative Housing 1918–1939 10. Public and Private Housing 1945–1985 11. Retrospect and Prospect. Notes and References. Index.

Reviews for the first edition:‘… we have had studies of almost every aspect of housing provision, physical, social, economic and political, but no one before John Burnett has attempted to pull all these various strands together into a comprehensive account of the evolution of British housing in modern times. We must therefore be grateful that he has attempted this task and that he has succeeded so admirably. His study combines first-class scholarship with a mastery of the rich variety of source material that exists in a lively and readable style.’ – Roof‘The history of housing has been an academic growth industry in the past decade and Professor Burnett’s well-illustrated book is a distinguished contribution.’ – The Times Educational Supplement‘Taking the subject from model cottages via back-to-backs to Parker Morris he provides an account of speculative, benevolent and public housing that has established itself as the text for anyone interested in how we live. As a social historian he is well aware of the gap between what people want and what the providers believe they should have. People seem to want beauty, however subjectively perceived, rather than the sanitariness which has been foremost in the minds of housing charities, committees and planners. It is a problem for them all, and for architects…. Let us all read Professor Burnett.’ – Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain