Slumming: Sexual and Social Politics in Victorian London [Hardcover]

A bountiful, provocative, and piquant 'genealogy of benevolence and social welfare,' with more than enough sex to frighten the horses.
(John Leonard Harper's Magazine )

Koven's study is undoubtedly one of the most important new contributions to the study of the Victorian city. . . . It is, after all, a testimony to the provocactive brilliance of this book that the reader is left with not just answers to class and gender relations in Victorian London, but with new questions.
(Lynda Nead American Historical Review )

A significant study . . . that illuminates the complicated relationships between London's rich and poor from the mid-1800s to the start of World War I. . . . [A] thoughtful, cogent, and copiously referenced work.
(Library Journal )

Given the constant stream of works on Victorian Britain, one sometimes feels that a moratorium is due. But occasionally a book comes along that makes one realize the exciting work that can still be done on that era. Seth Koven's Slumming is such a book, combining empirical richness with stimulating theoretical analysis and opening up questions for further research.
(Lesley Hall Times Higher Education Supplement )

We tend to think of Victorian haves regarding the have-nots--when they thought of them at all--as another species whose sinful idleness accounted for their place below the bottom rung of the ladder. Slumming shows us how infinitely more complex and varied the response actually was. . . . [T]he world [Koven] uncovers and its astonishing gallery of characters deserve the attention of a wider readership. . . . How the rich nations treat both the third world and the claims of their own poor is an issue that is very much with us. Koven has done a great service to this continuing debate by charting how the Victorians met--and didn't meet--the challenge to their conscience.
(Desmond Ryan The Philadelphia Inquirerer )

Slumming is a provocative, insightful study of one set of contradictions embedded in the ideology underlying Victorian middle- and upper-class relationships with the poor. . . . Seth Koven has written more than a fine contribution to the historiography of Victorian poverty: this is a book that makes one think, about the present as well as the past.
(Deborah Gorham Labour/Le Travail )

With assurance and grace, Slumming synthesizes the methods, topics, and insights of urban studies, gender history, queer studies, media analysis, and social history. . . . Slumming does an exemplary job of integrating men and women into a single historical framework.
(Sharon Marcus Victorian Studies )

Koven analyzes complex dynamics with non-judgmental subtlety. This fine-tuned approach allows Koven to dissect the uneven power dynamics of slumming a settlement work in a more nuanced fashion than many before him.
(Matt Cook History Workshop Journal )

Slumming is a well-written and -researched book that will be of great use to scholars in history, literature, women's studies, and gay studies. Koven is a gifted writer and has used newspapers, novels, institutional records and newsletters, and several pictures and artworks to make his case. It is also a beautifully produced book, though the absence of a bibliography, particularly in such a thoroughly researched study, is frustrating. Still, Slumming will stimulate historical and literary work for many years; it asks important questions and gives fascinating answers.
(Ginger Frost H-Net )

Slumming is a highly readable and important reassessment of the late Victorian phenomenon of visiting and experiencing the poverty of the East End first-hand. . . . Despite the book's heavily theoretical base, Koven's prose races along, imparting a page-turning quality in places. Koven is excellent at exploring the little-known corners of the world of the 'slummers.'
(Antony Taylor H-Net Reviews )

Arresting. Koven's scholarship is excellent, and this book will appeal across a wide range of disciplines.
(James Epstein, Vanderbilt University )