Nights out : life in cosmopolitan London /

Walkowitz's study of the Soho district of London is misleadingly titled, as she addresses little of the metropolis outside the small (130 acres) territory once known for its seedy characters and establishments. According to the author, Soho's transformation into a tourist Mecca is representative of London's evolution between the late-19th and mid-20th centuries. A number of distinctive figures, including the acclaimed interpretive dancer Maud Allan and the proprietor of dodgy nightclubs, Kate Meyrick, provide the anecdotal color and more readable passages in this work, which is otherwise marred by Walkowitz's use of unnecessarily abstruse language. Readers confront such lines as "Jewish Sohoites fashioned their heterosexual destinies amidst a full array of conventional and transgressive bodies," while the author misses the chance to produce an entertaining and readable social history, despite a dazzling array of source materials. Walkowitz (Johns Hopkins Univ.) repeatedly mentions the infamous "Bright Young Things" who scandalized their elders between the wars, but she never names the individuals who made up this party-going, scavenger-hunting set, despite their prominent role in the very urban transformation central to the thesis of her work. Summing Up: Optional. Specialists. E. J. Jenkins Arkansas Tech University