The landmark 1842 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of
Great Britain, by the social reformer Edwin Chadwick, was a damning indictment of
how large-scale socioeconomic change during the 19th century contributed to the increased
spread of epidemic and chronic diseases. Poor health among the working masses was
not simply a consequence of behavioural choices or moral failings but was associated
with pathogenic conditions created by the Industrial Revolution.