Book reviews for "Mayhew,_Henry" sorted by average review score:

London Labour and the London Poor
Published in Paperback by Dover Pubns (January, 1983)
Amazon base price: $9.95
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Henry Mayhew, founder of Punch magazine, wrote this four-volume sociological classic during the 1850's. If you are at all interested in the Victorian era, in British history, in London, or in urban history in general, this is a must-read. The Penguin version is abridged and is a distillation of the "best" of the multiple-volume set. This distillation is itself over 500 pages, so imagine the impact of the entire set! The utter destitution of the London poor is set out in such vivid detail than one cannot help being shocked at the conditions human beings were forced to live in in the greatest city of its time. The only fault I find with this book is Mayhew's occasional lapses into preaching. Otherwise a fine book

The Victorian Underworld
Published in Hardcover by New York University Press (October, 1998)
Amazon base price: $35.00
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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.

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.

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.

Criminal Prisons of London
Published in Hardcover by Augustus M. Kelley Publishers (June, 1968)
Amazon base price: $49.50
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The essential Mayhew : representing and communicating the poor
Published in Unknown Binding by Rivers Oram Press ; Published in the U.S.A. by Paul and Co. ()
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Henry Mayhew
Published in Hardcover by Twayne Pub (May, 1984)
Amazon base price: $20.95
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The illustrated Mayhew's London : the classic account of London street life and characters in the time of Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria
Published in Unknown Binding by Weidenfeld & Nicolson ()
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London Labour and London Poor
Published in Textbook Binding by Peter Smith Pub (June, 1983)
Amazon base price: $36.00
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The Mormons; or Latter-day Saints: a contemporary history
Published in Unknown Binding by AMS Press ()
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The Morning Chronicle Survey of Labour and the Poor
Published in Hardcover by Caliban Books (April, 1984)
Amazon base price: $32.50
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Travels into the Poor Man's Country: The Work of Henry Mayhew
Published in Hardcover by University of Georgia Press (August, 1977)
Amazon base price: $18.00
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While the living conditions suffered by the poor were truly deplorable, Mayhew might have enjoyed the company of street people more than that of his peers. He put so much life into his characters we can see them, hear them, smell them. I only wonder what the street people thought about Mr. Mayhew, the journalist who bought them beers,inveigled invitations to tea, listened tirelessly to their stories. Mayhew is neither sentimental nor brutal, but rather a true and tolerant humourist, and I believe that, for all the misery depicted, his work was undertaken with great, and contagious, joy.