Books that have inspired Jean Fullerton to write

I thought I would give those of you who want to read more about the fascinating East End of London a list of some books that have helped me.

Books I constantly reach for:

Judith Flanders - The Victorian House (2004)

Deals with all aspects of Victorian living and society

Ralph Hyde George Bacon - The A to Z of Victorian London (1987)

Henry Mayhew - London Labour and the London Poor (1985)

Edited by Victor Neuburg, Penguin. A collection of contemporary accounts of the poor in London reprinted by Penguin. It’s as if you are listering to the London underclass speaking.

Gilda O’Neill - The Good Old Days

A brilliant gathering together of contemporary sources by my fellow East End author. It doesn’t only give you the facts and details about the about area but discusses the issues from a contemporary point of view.

Allan Palmer - The East End: Four centuries of London Life (1989)

Nice section about the period and a good overview of the area.

Liza Picard - Victorian London (2005)

An excellent overview of the city and those living within it.

Millicent Rose - The East End of London (1951)

An fascinating book written just after the Second World War which is out of print.

Sarah Wise - The Blackest Streets (2008)

A riveting account of the making of the Shoreditch slums.

Fiona Rule - The Worst Street In London (2008)

A wonderful account of Dorset Street where Jack the Rippers victim Mary Kelly was found, from it 17th century beginnings up to the Second World War.

Other Books:

John Ayto - Oxford Book of Slang (2003)

Speaks for itself, if you pardon the pun.

Charles Dickens Journalism Volumes I, II, III & IV

Like Mayhew these are first hand accounts of the Victorian poors’ lives.

Henry Goddard - Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner

Diary giving the first hand account of the early years of the Metropolitan Police.

Gilda O’Neill - My East End (1999)

This is Gilda’s memories of her East End childhood and although not contempory to the period I write it has the account from her family member of how the old East End used to be.

Richard Tames - East End Past (2008)

A collection of East End places and building that have disappeared.

Richard Tames - The London we have Lost (2008)

Again a collections of places now gone for ever.

Andrew Wear - Medicine in Society (1992)

Put the medical profession in the context as it developed into the profession we know today.

Lastly some photo books of the East End
that I find useful when imagining where my characters are living.

Jean Fullerton