The Victorian Underworld [Paperback]

Donald Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1999

Here, through the eyes of its inhabitants, Donald Thomas portrays the nineteenth-century underworld -- one of 'night houses' and cigar divans, of street people and entertainers. The underworld was sheltered by an underclass, united with it in a hatred of the police. In its rookeries and padding-kens, gin shops and taverns, hard by the fashionable West End, thrived thieves and beggars, cheats, forgers and pickpockets, preying on rich and poor alike. Thackery wrote that the wonders of the Victorian underworld 'have been lying by your door and mine ever since we had a door of our own. We had but to go a hundred yards off and see it for ourselves, but we never did.' Her Donald Thomas pushes open that door to reveal a world at once both strange and strangely familiar.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"A vivid tableau of debauchery and sadism" is the way Thomas describes the newspaper and magazine coverage of Victorian prostitution, but he may as well be describing his own book. The author of biographies of Lewis Carroll and the Marquis de Sade, true crime books and mysteries surveys the seedier lives and misdeeds of 19th century England's down and out, middle class and upper crust. Though much of what Thomas covers is factually interesting?for instance, the popularity and fame of hangmen or the deviousness of a blackmailer?he gives little momentum to the reading and little sense of depth or coherence to the big picture. Early on he describes the poor's hostility toward police and law courts, and in so doing, has the tact not to overemphasize obvious parallels to today's cities. A hero of the far-casting book is aristocratic "Walter," the otherwise anonymous author of My Secret Life, which chronicles his almost countless sexual liaisons. "In scrupulous detail, Walter documents the girl's life. As self-consciously as any missionary or social investigator, though still in bed with her, he asks Kitty about being 'gay,' which was the common Victorian term for being a prostitute." Thomas convincingly shows that "given the strength of her characterization and dialogue, she might otherwise have stepped from the pages of Bleak House or Our Mutual Friend." The best chapters, including the one on "The Great Bullion Robbery," deserve or have received books of their own; Thomas's treatment of his topic is too little, too wide. 60 illustrations.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This detailed "panorama of the Victorian underworld" is a litany of crime in all its darkest forms. The 11 illustrated chapters serve up a rogue's gallery of saucy thieves, forgers, poisoners, prostitutes, con men, extortionists, pornographers, maniacs, and perpetrators of murder most foul who belie the genteel trappings of the period and reveal Victorian London to be perhaps the most wretched hive of scum and villainy the world has known. The book is at once a history of criminal activity and a social dissection of the "underclass, which nourished an underworld" and the upper class that accepted the victimization as long as public scandal was avoided. Victorian crime was more scientific than its detection, and many of these intricately planned thefts and sensational murders would rival any concoction offered by Hollywood or a best-selling mystery. Thomas (Lewis Carroll, Trafalgar Square, 1998) has written a highly readable, page-turning history. Recommended.?Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: John Murray (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719557291
• ISBN-13: 978-0719557293
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,320,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crime and justice in Victorian England, December 1, 1999

By 

saskatoonguy (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Victorian Underworld (Hardcover)

Readers of British social history might enjoy this work. The first half ("Crime") draws very heavily--perhaps too heavily--from the works of 19th-century writer Henry Mahew. (Oddly, the Amazon listing shows Mahew as co-author, but he is not listed as co-author in the book itself.) We're treated to a detailed description of slum living conditions, criminal scams of the era, cheating on horse races, early pornography, and prostitution. A variety of detailed narratives give the book a personal touch; it's not dry reading. The most astonishing tidbit in this book is that in Victorian London, there was a ratio of one prostitute for every ten adult males!

The second half of the book ("Retribution") covers the jails of the era, police corruption, hangings of wrongly convicted people, and the workings of the court system, spiced with a variety of narratives about actual people. On the other hand, the most irritating feature of the book is that the index lists only names of persons, not topics.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HISTORY WITHOUT GLOSS, January 27, 2002

By 

LA VONDA R. STAPLES (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Victorian Underworld (Hardcover)

When historians create their tomes they glorify and even fabricate information in order to make their nation appear as prolific as possible. "Victorian Underworld" is a view of this era of Britain's history that is rarely, if ever, exhibited. It is an overview of the conditions of the underclass, of which, in all contemporary nations are the largest portion of the population. "Victorian England" concentrates on the manner in which the bulk of the population, the 'commoners' either lived their lives or the obstacles the public endeavoured to avoid. The writing style is as enticing as grand fiction which brings an air of titillation to this factual documentation of history.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Survival of the Fittest, February 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Victorian Underworld (Hardcover)

What a relief to sit comfortably ensconsed in a different century! The author points out the cruelty of everyday life under the reign of Queen Victoria and the futility of the struggle to survive. It should be a lesson to all of us nowadays when we complain about the tough life we have to endure.We have come a long way! While the narration certainly is very interesting, it also seems curiously flat and without a lively soul. Maybe that stems from the fact that much of the book has a few sources only and just seems to copy them. Also, the back and forth of the time frame makes it somewhat incoherent. It would have helped a great deal to include a few maps of London.