From the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author of The Invention of Murder an extraordinary revelatory portrait of everyday life on the streets of Dickens LondonThe nineteenth century was a time of unprecedented change and nowhere was this more apparent than London In only a few decades the capital grew from a compact Regency town into a sprawling metropolis of million inhabitants the largest city the world had ever seen Technology--railways street-lighting and sewers--transformed both the city and the experience of city-living as London expanded in every direction Now Judith Flanders one of Britains foremost social historians explores the world portrayed so vividly in Dickens novels showing life on the streets of London in colorful fascinating detailFrom the moment Charles Dickens the centurys best-loved English novelist and Londons greatest observer arrived in the city in he obsessively walked its streets recording its pleasures curiosities and cruelties Now with him Judith Flanders leads us through the markets transport systems sewers rivers slums alleys cemeteries gin palaces chop-houses and entertainment emporia of Dickens London to reveal the Victorian capital in all its variety vibrancy and squalor From the colorful cries of street-sellers to the uncomfortable reality of travel by omnibus to the many uses for the body parts of dead horses and the unimaginably grueling working days of hawker children no detail is too small or too strange No one who reads Judith Flanderss meticulously researched captivatingly written The Victorian City will ever view London in the same light again.
