Dark London - by Drew Gray (Hardcover)

About the Book

"From dark crimes of passion to shocking tales of grave robbing, gruesome murders, dens of iniquity, Victorian séances and haunted houses - not far beneath London's everyday bustle and glitter there has long been a fascinatingly rich underworld of criminality, superstition, scandal and macabre debauchery."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

From dark crimes of passion to shocking tales of grave robbing, gruesome murders, dens of iniquity, Victorian séances, and haunted houses--not far beneath London's everyday bustle and glitter there has long been a fascinatingly rich underworld of criminality, superstition, scandal, and macabre debauchery.

In Dark London, social historian Dr Drew Gray, a specialist in the history of crime and punishment, delves into the city's grim yet compelling past, uncovering the people and places that shaped its darker identity.

Across more than 100 real-life cases and curiosities, he explores how London became both the heart of a growing empire and a stage for vice, greed, and human fallibility.

Highlights include:

• The London Burkers, a notorious gang of resurrectionists whose leader confessed to stealing and selling nearly 1,000 bodies to London's medical schools in the 1830s.
• The Whitechapel Murders of 1888, still the world's longest running serial murder mystery.
• The prisons of Newgate and Pentonville, where shifting attitudes towards justice revealed the tension between punishment, reform, and moral control.
• The legend of Spring-heeled Jack, the terrifying, leaping figure who caused panic across London's streets.
• The Great Stink of 1858, when London's polluted Thames brought the city to a standstill and forced a revolution in sanitation and public health.

Dark London brings together the history of the city's seamier side, picking out the most scandalous, curious and bizarre aspects of London's shadowy and fascinating underbelly.

Review Quotes

An innovative and refreshing approach to the dark side of London's history in the modern era. Drew Gray provides readers with amusing and highly informative, bite-sized vignettes of significant individuals, institutions, events, locations, practices and other phenomena which together tell an evocative tale of life in England's capital city between 1750 and 1914. Dark London is both an irresistible volume for the coffee table of any history lover, and an incredibly useful reference book for budding social historians and anyone else who chooses to explore further the underbelly of the expanding, industrial metropolis.

Dr Rosalind Crone, Award-winning Historian, Writer and Broadcaster on Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

In this gruesome look at the dark underbelly of London, historian Drew Gray (Nether World) surveys nefarious events from 1750 to the beginning of WWII. Strikingly illustrated throughout with contemporaneous etchings and engravings, this makes for a gloriously grisly mood board.

Publishers Weekly

Newcomers to London's sinister past and seasoned historians alike will greatly enjoy this journey with Drew Gray through the capital's underworld, the mile-stones thoughtfully selected, expertly related, and beautifully presented.

Adam Wood, Crime and Policing Historian

This is one of those pick up, dip in, and find something interesting type of books. The trouble is, once you pick it up and dip in, it's hard to put down. From beginning to end, this examination of London's dark, curious, and extraordinary history is as surprising as it is fascinating. A smashing book full of all-too-brief accounts of the extraordinary and often bizarre events in the history of London. Drew Gray is in his element. London has a dark history, some of which is truly extraordinary, and Gray knows it all.

From Paul Begg, Author of Jack the Ripper: The Facts

About the Author

Dr. Drew Gray is a social historian of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who specialises in the history of crime and punishment. Drew is Head of Subject for Culture (Humanities, Media, & Performance) at the University of Northampton and teaches modules on both the History and Criminology programmes. His previous works include Murder Maps: Crime Scenes Revisited; Phrenology to Fingerprint 1811-1911 and London's Shadows: The Dark Side of the Victorian City.