Clouds Of Glory: A Hoxton Childhood
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Book Description
Enormously attractive memoir of a working-class childhood in the 1930s by Bryan Magee - journalist, academic, philosopher, radio and television broadcaster, member of parliament and writer.
Product Description
Hoxton today is one of the most fashionable parts of inner London, yet within living memory it was the capital's most notorious slum area. 'Hoxton is the leading criminal quarter of London, and indeed of all England', wrote Charles Booth in a famous report at the beginning of the twentieth century. It remained a byword for its combination of poverty and crime until the Second World War - London's busiest market for stolen goods, the centre of the pickpocket trade, home to a razor gang that terrorised racecourses all over southern England. Its main thoroughfare, Hoxton Street, was one of the East End's best-known street markets, but was known also as the roughest street in Britain. This Hoxton was swept away by the Blitz and the slum-clearance programmes. But among the people born there in its heyday is Bryan Magee, author, television broadcaster and Member of Parliament. For him it was home, for his first nine years, until he became an evacuee on the outbreak of war. In this moving and beautifully written book he recalls the vanished world of his childhood and brings it to life again in all its drama and surprise. (20030513)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
More intimate than "Confessions", but less philosophical,
This review is from: Clouds Of Glory: A Childhood in Hoxton: A Hoxton Childhood (Paperback)
Bryan Magee's "Confessions of a Philosopher" is one of my favourite autobiographies, my favourite introduction to the broad span of Western Philosophy, and a superb account of the BBC before it dumbed down. To cover all that (!) something had to give, and what gives are the personal details of Bryan Magee's life. "Clouds of Glory" is the first part of a more intimate account of his life. After reading "Confessions" you will be left either wanting Bryan to explain some more philosophy to you, or wanting to know more about Bryan's personal life story, or (more likely) both! This is definitely a book for anyone wanting to know more about Bryan's early life, and the environment in which he was brought up. I was surprised that he came from such an impoverished background, as "Confessions" gave no hint of this. The story of his climb from poverty, to attaining scholarship at a major public school, and on to Oxford is fascinating. Equally fascinating is the account of the vibrant Hoxton community that nourished the mind of this most inquisitive of men.
The title clash, mentioned by another reviewer, isn't a problem. Magee is a best-selling author. The many people searching for this work will also see the other book. Also, "A Hoxton Childhood" is the *sub*-title for Magee's book, so there is little chance that people will be confused.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Boyhood in 1930s Hoxton,
By
This review is from: Clouds Of Glory: A Childhood in Hoxton: A Hoxton Childhood (Paperback)
If the remarkably well-recalled experience of a nine year old boy (later philosophy teacher and writer, broadcaster and MP) growing up in a shop in 1930s Hoxton, with an unloving mother, a warm intelligent father, and a natural aptitude for philosophical questions interests you, then you should read this memoir. But don't take my work for it - google the title and author and read the reviews:
'The best childhood memoir I know.' Jonathan Mirsky, Spectator 'There are times when all the reviewer needs to write is 'Read it, love it!'.' Arnold Wesker, Guardian 'A complex and compelling evocation of a vanished world.' Observer 'A lovingly detailed verbal map... This is vivid and highly scrupulous autobiographical reportage.' Financial Times 'A perceptive intelligence has recreated this rich Hoxton memoir.' Guardian 'A loving report from what was often a loveless terrain' Independent 'A beautifully written account of London slum life in the 1930s.' Sunday Times
6 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Let's Use Someone Else's Title,
By
This review is from: Clouds Of Glory: A Childhood in Hoxton: A Hoxton Childhood (Paperback)
I have the book 'A Hoxton Childhood' in front of me by A.S. Jasper. It is a superb and enlightening story of how the working class and one family in particular struggled with extremely hard times before the Great War. Why Bryan Magee or his publishers saw fit to steal the A. S. Jasper's title is totally mystifying and if I knew where he lived 'I'd send the boys round.'
Seriously though, why rip off someone's title and basically the same subject matter?
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