Vagabonds: Life on the Streets of Nineteenth-Century London

British historian Oskar Jensen combs through hundreds of late Georgian and Victorian primary and secondary accounts to document the stories of London's poor through their own voices. What emerges is a buzzing world of the working classes, diverse in gender, ethnicity, ability, origin, and occupation.

There's two-year-old Susan Mosely, kidnapped by an older woman because beggars with children are treated with more sympathy. There's John James Bezer, a seven-year-old who's elated to find a job as a street deliveryman--working seventeen hours a day. And there's Joseph Johnson, a Black ex-sailor who's famous for singing sea songs outside the Tower of London with a model ship balanced on his head.

The stories in Vagabonds form a moving picture of people in poverty and a reminder of the power of the human spirit--but also of the suffering begotten by a society divided into rich and poor. Jensen's assiduous work results in a meticulously accurate portrait of the visceral sights, sounds, and smells of Dickensian London, offering us a vibrant new perspective on the streets and their lives.

Shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2023

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Experiment, LLC
Published: 02/20/2024
ISBN: 9781891011429
Pages: 336