Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth

by Lee Jackson

Overview

In Victorian London, filth was everywhere: horse traffic filled the streets with dung, household rubbish went uncollected, cesspools brimmed with "night soil," graveyards teemed with rotting corpses, the air itself was choked with smoke. In this intimately visceral book, Lee Jackson guides us through the underbelly of the Victorian metropolis, introducing us to the men and women who struggled to stem a rising tide of pollution and dirt, and the forces that opposed them.

Through thematic chapters, Jackson describes how Victorian reformers met with both triumph and disaster. Full of individual stories and overlooked details—from the dustmen who grew rich from recycling, to the peculiar history of the public toilet—this riveting book gives us a fresh insight into the minutiae of daily life and the wider challenges posed by the unprecedented growth of the Victorian capital.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300216110
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	11/24/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Lee Jackson is a well-known Victorianist and creator of a preeminent website on Victorian London (www.victorianlondon.org).

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 The Golden Dustman 7

2 Inglorious Mud 27

3 Night Soil 46

4 Removable Causes 69

5 Vile Bodies 105

6 The Great Unwashed 134

7 The Public Convenience 155

8 Wretched Houses 181

9 The Veil of Soot 212

Epilogue 238

Notes 244

Bibliography 270

Illustration Acknowledgements 284

Acknowledgements 285

Index 287

Editorial Reviews

“This engaging, tightly argued book… embraces horse manure, rotting corpses, human excrement, public baths, toilet arrangements, cholera epidemics, and the “Big Stink” of 1858”—Paula Byrne, The Times

The Times - Paula Byrne

"Lee Jackson stops to have a good poke around – and consider in fascinating, sometimes gruesome detail, the filth and nuisances of the time . . . Utterly engrossing."—Jo Baker, The New York Times Book Review

The New York Times Book Review - Jo Baker

"This is a tightly argued, meticulously researched history of sanitation that reads like a novel."—Paula Byrne, The Times

The Times - Paula Bryne

"This is a tightly argued, meticulously researched history of sanitation that reads like a novel."—Paula Byrne, The Times

"Lee Jackson stops to have a good poke around – and consider in fascinating, sometimes gruesome detail, the filth and nuisances of the time . . . Utterly engrossing."—Jo Baker, The New York Times Book Review

"Rich in wonderful contemporary details gleaned from newspapers and archives, Jackson’s study is a vivid account of the enormous challenges faced by a city expanding at an unprecedented rate."—P. D. Smith, The Guardian

"Mr Jackson has written a book that is neat and sparkling, unlike his subject matter."—Emily Cockayne, Wall Street Journal Europe

“Impressive . . . [Lee] Jackson has written a book that is neat and sparkling, unlike his subject matter.”—Emily Cockayne, The Wall Street Journal

“An atypical look at London’s social history. Jackson manages to make a disgusting topic much funnier than one would expect.”—Library Journal

“Jackson demonstrates the unimaginable filth that permeated London during the 19th century . . . A well-researched, if unpalatable, picture of a filthy city and the different factions fighting for and against reform using class distinctions, gender inequality and horrendous poor laws.”—Kirkus Reviews

"While the subject of Dirty Old London is often, unavoidably, off-putting, it is also endlessly intriguing.”—Shelf Awareness

“Disgusting and wonderful.”—Kelly Faircloth, Jezebel

"Dirty Old London is a treat – truly Victorian, in that it is shocking, entertaining, educational and grisly by turns."—Catharine Arnold, author of Necropolis: London and its Dead

"I can't think of a better companion with whom to explore London's underbelly - expert, engaging and approachable."—Sarah Wise, author of The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum

"So much meticulous research packaged into such a vividly readable narrative. I loved it."—Liza Picard, author of Victorian London

"The squalor of Victorian London was proverbial. Lee Jackson’s revelatory clean-up goes behind the headlines to allow us to see not just what, but why, London was so dirty."—Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London

From the Publisher

“Disgusting and wonderful.”—Kelly Faircloth, Jezebel

Jezebel - Kelly Faircloth

‘This is a fascinating work that will engage both those interested in Victorian in general and London in particular.’—Stephen Halliday, BBC History Magazine

BBC History Magazine - Stephen Halliday

‘Jackson, “a noted Victorianist”, has put in time in archives all over London, as one can see from the depth and breadth of the book’s detail.’—Rose George, New Statesman.

New Stateman - Rose George

“Impressive . . . [Lee] Jackson has written a book that is neat and sparkling, unlike his subject matter.”—Emily Cockayne, The Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal European Edition - Emily Cockayne

While the subject of Dirty Old London is often, unavoidably, off-putting, it is also endlessly intriguing.”—Shelf Awareness

Shelf Awareness

‘I thought I knew nineteenth-century London-this book made me smell it. . .Mud: it’s so often mentioned in Victorian literature, but I didn’t know what it was until I read this admirable book.’—Clive Aslet, Country Life
 

Country Life - Clive Aslet

‘The squalor of Victorian London was proverbial. Lee Jackson’s revelatory clean-up goes behind the headlines to allow us to see not just what, but why, London was so dirty.’ - Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London

Judith Flanders

'So much meticulous research packaged into such a vividly readable narrative. I loved it.' - Liza Picard, author of Victorian London

Liza Picard

''I can't think of a better companion with whom to explore London's underbelly - expert, engaging and approachable.' - Sarah Wise, author of The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum

Sarah Wise

‘Dirty Old London is a treat – truly Victorian, in that it is shocking, entertaining, educational and grisly by turns.’ – Catharine Arnold, author of Necropolis: London and its Dead

Catharine Arnold

2014-10-07
Victorianist Jackson (Walking Dickens' London, 2012) demonstrates the unimaginable filth that permeated London during the 19th century.During the industrial age, it was not just dust and smoke from factories that affected life in the city; in fact, 19th-century reformers felt that was just a part of life. London was plagued year-round by manure, ash, mud and rotten garbage, and the summer months, which "created their own obnoxious cocktail," were especially bad. The generally accepted thought was that the source of sickness, including cholera and typhus epidemics, was miasma, the foul smell of degrading organic material. The sewers and cesspools of London continually overflowed, and while the "night soil" men pumped out waste and sold it for fertilizer, they couldn't keep up with a population that increased sixfold in the period from 1800 to 1900. Finally, with Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890) leading the sanitary movement, a great sewer project was built to divert raw sewage and eliminate cesspools. The situation regarding ash and cinders ran into a similar problem, as dustmen sold the waste from coal fires to brick makers but couldn't keep up with the population explosion. Reformers managed to curtail the output of smoke from the many factories, but the domestic grate of a "man's castle" continued to fowl the air well into the 20th century. The author thoroughly covers the various pollutants plaguing the city, including the most prevalent in the early years: manure. London required 300,000 horses to keep the city moving, and their manure, mixed with ash and mud, created a vile substance covering nearly every street. A well-researched, if unpalatable, picture of a filthy city and the different factions fighting for and against reform using class distinctions, gender inequality and horrendous poor laws. Jackson strongly warns us that the problem isn't solved; the great sewer project is desperately outdated, and the "clean air" is anything but.

Kirkus Reviews