Historians know what St.Petersburg's industrial workers did during the revolution of 1905-7, the strike wave of 1912-14, and the revolutions of 1917. What they still do not know, however, is who these people were, where they came from, what were the paths of recruitment into industry that they followed, and what were their socio-economic characteristics. Evel Economakis analyses the processes of proletarianization and urbanization undergone by St.Petersburg's industrial working class from its inception in the early nineteenth century up until 1914.