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Review
` a staggering breadth of scholarly research with a very human insight ... cutting edge but sensitive'
`An affecting history of life in the crowded slums of 19th century London'
--The Economist
`An affecting history of life in the crowded slums of 19th century London'
--The Economist
Sue Baker, Publishing News, 21 March 2008
`A detailed, thorough and totally absorbing history... I'll be looking to see this one on the 2008 Samuel Johnson shortlist, at the very least.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a Book! Social history at its very best,
By
This review is from: The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum (Hardcover)
I have seldom read such an affecting book. It is a model of accessible, informative and gripping social history. Through meticulous research, it tells the lives of those people who lived in the area known as "The Nicol" in East London in the late 19th c. there are countless individual stories of heartbreaking poverty, set against the bigger picture of social, political and religious reforms and the history of urban victorian slums. Contemporary photographs and etchings are really illustrative and help bring the area to life. I have ancestors who lived in the area and it provided a fascinating and humbling glimpse of their lives but this book is so well written and informative, in a very accessible style that anyone interested in history will enjoy it. It is a real page turner - I was completely caught up in the day to day lives of the people of the Nicol. Utterly compelling and highly recommended. My book of the year so far.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Old Nichol exposed,
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This review is from: The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum (Hardcover)
I first picked up on the Old Nichol when researching family history and getting a map of Shoreditch circa 1890 when the areas was being 'cleared'. Curiously, I bought the two maps before and after this time and saw the horrendous labyrinth of streets that made up the Old Nichol and the tidy Arnold Circus that replaced it and still exists today. Little seemed to be known about the Old Nichol until this book (save Arthur Morrisons seminal 'A Child of the Jago' where Jago meant Nichol).
This book paints a good picture of what life was like in the Old Nichol and the events that led to its demolition. Revd Osbourne Jay, who was vicar in the Parish in its latter years is given quite a sympathetic portrayal although in hindsight his motives are a little flawed perhaps. The book is a little heavy going in its middle sections and there are too many number references to appendices which I could not keep flicking back and fourth to. Also, my interest was in a relative born in Old Nichol Street in the 1840s but there is little reference to whether life would have been as harsh then as it was in the late 1880s. The lack of photos is frustrating but I guess there are none; there was nothing really photogenic about the area. The biggest revelation for me was that the landlords of these shameful properties were respected and wealthy folk. This book is recommended for anyone with an East End family background or a curiosity in a forgotten area of shame.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Blackest Streets,
By
This review is from: The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum (Hardcover)
I am enjoying this book because it has shed new light on my own family's story as they lived in Bethnal Green at the end of the 19th century. The use of personal stories especially those of Arthur Harding is very effective and one of the best things about the book. I have struggled with its over-wordiness in places and the insertion of several numerical facts one after the other but on the whole it's very readable and an important historical record of a largely ignored problem.
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