The East End: Four Centuries of London Life

by Alan Warwick Palmer, Peter Ackroyd (Introduction)

For centuries the East End of London was synonymous with poverty and brutal labor, with Cockney solidarity and popular protest. The poverty is still there but now—once again—East London is beginning to reshape itself. Fashionable riverside restaurants multiply and shining new office buildings spread south toward the Millennium Dome. Now the term “East End” begins to have a different ring. Alan Palmer takes us back through four centuries of life in this great melting pot, which was once the very center of Empire trade. Both people and goods have flowed in and out of it, from the Huguenot weavers of the seventeenth century to the Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis of today. Its story is one of extremes—of narrow, dingy streets and grand Hawksmoor churches, of great social campaigners, and out-and-out criminals like the Krays. This fascinating book, with an introduction by London’s great chronicler Peter Ackroyd, captures the spirit of the East End and its people, of those who have left their mark on it and those whose lives were marked by it forever.

Genres: London, Nonfiction, History

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Author also writes under Alan Palmer

Alan Palmer was Head of the History Department at Highgate School from 1953 to 1969, when he gave up his post to concentrate on historical writing and research.

Reviews

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting addition to my East End collection. Always learning about my parish, and this work helped with that.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was much better historically than than East End Chronicles. The material was presented in historical order but still with different themes for different chapters. It covered a lot of the same material but was less sensationalised. Palmer also tried to link the events that were happening in the East End with more of the national picture and politics, thus giving more of a background. There were quite a few interesting things that I found in here to follow up. Books I wanted to read. Where this book fell a little short was dealing with the immigrant communities within the East End as not much was written about them at all. Still overall it was a much better history, though because of that a little drier to read.

[Casey Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked reading this but it was hard because I don't know much local history in England, London or the East End. I never got into the flow of the book much. It is pact full of stories about economic development, labor relations and land planning. Not knowing names was hard but I learned and now have an appreciation for the flavor of people that have called the East end for the last 400 years. Honestly the stories about WWII were scary. I was inspired to read this book because my favorite musician Jason Pierce lives there. If I ever get a chance to go there I will appreciate this book more.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because my Dad was from the East End and I had grown up with lots of stories, folk law and humour from within the sound of the Bow Bells. This small book covered 4 centuries of Cockney London life full of fantastic accounts of a now vanished world. The typeset in Photina didn't make for an easy read.