The British Middle Class

Historian and broadcaster Tristram Hunt examines the social class's origins. He discovers how the backlash against the landed aristocracy began with a group of radical thinkers who craved progress and used their money from industry to begin a process of urban enlightenment. However, the growth of mass production led the newly moneyed leaders to move further away from the factories, beginning the trend for suburban living as a mark of status - though it meant the middle classes turning their back on where they came from