Review by Booklist Review
The East End of London has generally conjured up negative images: severe poverty, vicious crime (including the "Ripper" murders), and illicit "pleasure houses" where some of the London elite would flock to indulge their baser desires. Of course, the reality was always more complex, which is particularly true now as the East End is the scene of massive urban redevelopment and even gentrification. Palmer is the author of more than 30 books and a member of the Royal Society of Literature. He writes with a sharp, witty style that is ideal for his survey of an area that always seems about to bubble over with diversity and vitality. His examination of the turbulence resulting from the ongoing immigration of various ethnic groups into the East End is both insightful and stimulating. While his examination of East End conflicts in the Victorian age treads over familiar ground, readers should find his portrayals of life there in the eighteenth century and especially in the 1990s to be fascinating and surprising. --Jay Freeman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
