Benjamin Disraeli's 1845 novel Sybil uses Birmingham as a background political barometer – "They're always ready for a riot in Birmingham… The sufferings of '39 will keep Birmingham in check",[72] while Charlotte Brontë's 1849 Shirley sees the town at the root of the changes sweeping England – "In Birmingham I considered closely, and at their source, the causes of the present troubles of this country".[73]