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Product Description
This all began quite unexpectedly one rainy autumn evening a couple of years in a fairground near to the centre of Nottingham. . . `In amongst the bright lights and bumper cars, Nick Davies noticed two boys, no more than twelve years old, oddly detached from the fun of the scene. Davies discovered they were part of a network of chidren selling themselves on the streets of the city, running a nightly gaunlet of dangers-pimps, punters, the Vice Squad, disease, drugs. This propelled Davies into a journey of discovery through the slums and ghettoes of our cities. He found himself in crack houses and brothels, he be-friended street gangs and drug dealers Nick Davies`s journey into the hidden realm is powerful, disturbing and impressive, and is bound to rouse controversy and demands for change. Davies unravels threads of Britain`s social fabric as he travels deeper and deeper into the country of poverty , towards the dark heart of British society.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
66 of 67 people found the following review helpful
I picked up this book at 10am on a Saturday. At 10.30am I rang around and cancelled my plans. By 8pm I had finished it, and have spent innumerable hours since then trying to get everyone I meet to read it.
Frightening and wholly absorbing, this book draws you into the darkness of poverty in Britain and presents it to the reader in a manner so unflinching it leaves you in shock.
The thing which stays with you most after putting this book down is a sense of new understanding of the vicious circle of poverty, which grips generation after generation in abject hopelessness.
Please, please read this book. Then tell your freinds.
Frightening and wholly absorbing, this book draws you into the darkness of poverty in Britain and presents it to the reader in a manner so unflinching it leaves you in shock.
The thing which stays with you most after putting this book down is a sense of new understanding of the vicious circle of poverty, which grips generation after generation in abject hopelessness.
Please, please read this book. Then tell your freinds.
88 of 91 people found the following review helpful
In this book, Nick Davies takes his readers on a tour into the worst estates in the country, into the lives of the nastiest and most abused people. He tells a tale of impoverished Britain. And while, as you'd expect from a Guardian journalist, he makes his arguments against the government policies which create and sustain poverty, his real gift lies in recounting human tales. These stories of child prostitution and crack addiction among other things will disgust, anger and appall you. But the sensation that remains with me some five years since I read the book is one of sadness. I hadn't previously considered the fact that there might be so much unhappiness and despair in this country. Behind all thse tales of crime, exploitation, cruelty and poverty, Davies finds the human stories.
I've always tended to avoid gangs of menacing looking teenagers who lurk around in town centres, and I'll admit to gagging and turning away when a smelly old lady sits next to me on the bus. And I cetainly don't make a habit of visiting the roughest part of towns. So while my own background is certainly not one of wealth, I was pretty ignorant about the poorest parts of our society. It is this section of British society, pushed to the margins of both our physical space and our national consciousness that Davies reveals. It starts innocently enough, at the fair. Here, amidst all the tacky but harmles fun and commerce, he spots two young boys lurking by the public loos. He befriends them, and we follow him as he learns about their lives as rent boys, their family history, their friends. Before you know it, you're in a hellish place, a place occupied by a few million people in this country. It sounds morbid as hell, maybe even self indulgent. But its not. It's the finest piece of extended journalism I've ever read. It is at once well researched and extremeley moving.
If, like the vast majority of politicians and voters in Britain, you can't remember why we should tackle these issues head on, then you'd do well to read this book.
I've always tended to avoid gangs of menacing looking teenagers who lurk around in town centres, and I'll admit to gagging and turning away when a smelly old lady sits next to me on the bus. And I cetainly don't make a habit of visiting the roughest part of towns. So while my own background is certainly not one of wealth, I was pretty ignorant about the poorest parts of our society. It is this section of British society, pushed to the margins of both our physical space and our national consciousness that Davies reveals. It starts innocently enough, at the fair. Here, amidst all the tacky but harmles fun and commerce, he spots two young boys lurking by the public loos. He befriends them, and we follow him as he learns about their lives as rent boys, their family history, their friends. Before you know it, you're in a hellish place, a place occupied by a few million people in this country. It sounds morbid as hell, maybe even self indulgent. But its not. It's the finest piece of extended journalism I've ever read. It is at once well researched and extremeley moving.
If, like the vast majority of politicians and voters in Britain, you can't remember why we should tackle these issues head on, then you'd do well to read this book.
40 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Guardian journalist Nick Davies' work is manifestly not for the faint-hearted, detailing as it does the seedy underworld of many of Britain's big cities. From the opening chapter about the 'Children of the Forest' the reader is taken on a truly horrifying tour of rape,murders,exploitation and crime.
The author's intent is to convey the effects on society of the Thatcher revolution - how it has denied hope to millions and left them untethered and atomised, free only to drift into a world of drugs and prostitution. This is a very powerful and thought-provoking work which will surely be read for years to come - I particularly liked the quotes prefacing each part of the book, ussually from 19th century authors, showing that our predecessors were possessed of a much more acute sense of social conscience than most of us possess today ... Davies does offer solutions although most readers will balk at them, few can ignore the grotesque descriptions of misery which litter the pages of this book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
this is not fiction!
as a reader of martina cole's gritty novels about british scum, i was amazed to find that nick davies serves up REAL people to make fact much more evil than fiction. Read more
Published 8 months ago by longfellow
A very important work
This is a stunningly good piece of work. Davies is a true investigative journalist. It's sad that there isn't the money to fund more bits of research like this - very few... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Lucy
Brilliant book
I purchased this book after it was recommended as a suggested read. I am a second year social work student and found the book invaluable in develeping my insight into the lives of... Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2010 by Gill Downing
Buy this book
The only thing that disappointed me about this book was Robert McCrum's comment {Observer review} on the front of the book " {A brilliant journalistic investigation} .... Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2009 by Fidelina
Eye Opener
Nick Davies delivers a harrowing account of a subculture hidden to the majority of people on our shores, but nonetheless there for all to see if we were only to open our eyes. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2009 by Mr Ian J Baker
interesting, but dated
i bought this book in may 2009 and i wish i'd checked the dates of the other reviews as it's interesting (and generally depressing) but it seems dated. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2009 by Gordon Thomson
Deeply Disturbing
Nick Davies book on the underclass in Britain in the mid 90s is a deeply disturbing piece of reporting. Read more
Published on 10 April 2009 by S Wood
Cheap holidays in other peoples misery
Does the fact that an individual finds life boring or hopeless justify them taking massive amounts of drugs, drinking heavily, getting pregnant or turning to crime? Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2009 by Jeffrey Prior
A one dimensional view of poverty in the UK
There are excellent parts of this book, especially the account of how immigrants, whose qualifications were ignored, needed only two generations of racist abuse to produce... Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2008 by C. Barclay
we all need to read this book
It will open your eyes to the hidden deprivation in this country and change your perspective on things. poverty is not the fault of the poor.
Published on 27 Feb 2008 by B. J. S. Hanratty
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