In 1887 Government inspectors were sent to investigate the Old Nichol, a notorious slum on the boundary of Bethnal Green parish. The author recovers Old Nichol from the ruins of history and lays bare the social and political conditions that created and sustained this black hole which lay at the very heart of the Empire.
Examines the seedier side of Victorian life, and a turbulent period of history when revolution was in the air. In 1887, Government inspectors investigated a slum on the boundary of Bethnal Green where the mortality rate was twice as high as everywhere else. They discovered that the properties were owned by peers, politicians and churchmen.