Dark London: A Journey Through the City’s Mysterious and Macabre Underworld

In this gruesome look at the dark underbelly of London, historian Gray (Nether World) surveys nefarious events from 1750 to the beginning of WWII. As the capital of a vast global empire, the city increased in population nearly tenfold over this period, leading to an expansive urban underworld. In pithy prose, Gray examines everything from cholera epidemics to gaudy street fashions (like the ostentatiously dressed “macaronis” of the 1760s). A chapter on crime recounts the 18th-century hanging of a nobleman who had shot a servant; the grim handiwork of Jack the Ripper; and the dark undertakings of the real-life murderous maid who inspired Bleak House. A section on the supernatural covers the accidental shooting of a man dressed in white who was mistaken for a ghost, as well as the sojourn in London of Madame Blavatsky, the founder of theosophy, who claimed to be in contact with spirits. Tales of vice and iniquity include the story of an 18th-century prostitute who accidentally murdered a client seeking autoerotic asphyxiation, and a final chapter on grinding poverty and disasters discusses alcoholism and workhouses. The author has a keen eye for a quirky factoid and undertakes deep archival research that brings new perspective to some well-known stories. Strikingly illustrated throughout with contemporaneous etchings and engravings, this makes for a gloriously grisly mood board. (Sept.)