Down and Out in Eighteenth-Century London Contributor(s): Hitchcock, Tim (Author) |
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ISBN: 185285281X ISBN-13: 9781852852818 Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic OUR PRICE: $85.50 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: February 2005 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Great Britain - General - Social Science | Poverty & Homelessness - History | Social History |
Dewey: 942.107 |
LCCN: 2005272347 |
Physical Information: 0.91" H x 6.58" W x 9.44" (1.59 lbs) 352 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles - Chronological Period - 18th Century |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: London in the eighteenth century was the greatest city in the world. It was a magnet that drew men and women from the rest of England in huge numbers. For a few the streets were paved with gold, but for the majority it was a harsh world with little guarantee of money or food. For the poor and destitute, London's streets offered little more than the barest living. Yet men, women and children found a great variety of ways to eke out their existence, sweeping roads, selling matches, singing ballads and performing all sorts of menial labor. Many of these activities, apart from the direct begging of the disabled, depended on an appeal to charity, but one often mixed with threats and promises. Down and Out in Eighteenth-Century London provides a remarkable insight into the lives of Londoners, for all of whom the demands of charity and begging were part of their everyday world. |