Pustules and plague corpses in Smithfield. Women disguised in men's clothing. A shark in the Thames. London's East End has a history soaked in blood. The Great Plague of London can be traced to its streets; Jack the Ripper prowled here, as did the Ratcliffe Highway murderer and the gunmen of the famous Sidney Street siege. Communists, fascists, suffragettes and the Skeleton Army have all fought through the streets of the East End, before it weathered the worst that the Nazi bombers could throw at it during the dark days of the Blitz. Historically viewed as a 'den of iniquity', and once teeming with opium dens, bodysnatchers and paupers, this is a story of dreadful odds and of determination, filled with horror, grim British humour and hundreds of incredible years of history.

The modern history of London's East End has been well-documented – but what of its ancient roots? From embryonic beginnings in the Stone Age, through Roman rule and civil wars, all the way to its jam-packed twentieth-century timeline, the East End has always been a place of innovation, diversity and change. Written by an East Ender with a love of her roots, The Little History of the East End is an engaging look at the area's history through the people that made it, one that will enthral and surprise both residents and visitors alike.

London's strangest and scariest people and places are brought vividly to life in this walk through the capital's dark side. Featuring serial killers, psychopaths, gangsters, ghosts and martyrs, here are fifty true stories from all corners of the city guaranteed to chill your bones.

The queen who walked on fire! Weird legends of St Swithin explored! The Vikings are coming! Death and destruction in ancient Winchester! Sufferings she could not describe': the amazing life and dolorous death of Miss Jane Austen! Fed to the dogs! Winchester's most gruesome executions! The secret histories of Winchester's most famous buildings revealed! Winchester has one of the darkest and most fascinating histories on record – more than 2,000 years of death, disease and destruction. With Georgian terrorists and legendary kings, trials, plagues and chilling true stories including the tale of William Walker, the diver who spent five years in pitch-black water under the cathedral, you'll never see the city in the same way again!

Britain has an incredible history, steeped in all manner of blood, death, disease and horror. From cannibals to concentration camps, Geoff Holder covers events both great and gory from Britain's terrible past, with kings, queens and pretenders to the throne; sea battles, massacres and attacks from the air. This collection explores it all, with hundreds of amazing true stories, including seven ill-judged attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria and the Gestapo's secret plans to bring a conquered Britain to its knees. There will be blood ...

Razed by Vikings! Deadly Danish assaults and demolitions. Neolithic murders! The tragic tale of Britain’s earliest recorded homicide! A deadly game of thrones! The last remains of two royal victims in the Abbey. Murdered by the Ripper! Was one of Jack the Ripper’s victims from Peterborough? Find out inside! ‘I Can’t Stop While There Are Lives to be Saved’: The incredible story of British spy nurse Edith Cavell. There is the darker side to Peterborough’s history. All manner of incredible events have occurred in the city: Roman occupations; Saxon murders and miracles; riots and revolts; battles, diseases, disasters and plagues. Including more than 60 illustrations, and with the history of institutions such as the prisoner-of-war camps of the Napoleonic era and the slums and workhouses of the Victorian age, you’ll never see the city in the same way again.

Discover the communities that have made London the amazing place it is to live in and visit, with this fascinating walking guide to the history, culture, religion and cuisine of immigrant London. Brimming with beautiful maps and illustrations, this handy, pocket-sized guide is the perfect companion for all those wishing to explore London's many vibrant and varied neighbourhoods. In this captivating and insightful walking guide to London's rich and vibrant communities, route maps delightfully wind their way through the book, and each page is bursting with facts, stories and insights. Explore the Jewish centres of Whitechapel and Spitalfields, discover the Chinese areas of Limehouse and Soho, roam the West Indian communities of Brixton and Notting Hill; and meander around the sites and locations of many early South Asian restaurants of the West End, plus so much more. Diverse London will interest both those who live in London and those visiting, and anyone looking for a walking guide that's a little bit different.

Phantom in the library! The bizarre true story of a Victorian haunting revealed! King cholera! The day that death came to the Dock family! Exploding mummies! The weirdest events of the blitz examined! A Yorkshire tragedy: Fifteenth-century murder at Calverley Hall! Leeds has one of the darkest histories on record. From the fatal Dripping Riot of 1865, sparked by the theft of two pounds of congealed fat, to the violin-playing killer Charles Peace, said to still haunt the city’s prison cells, you will find all manner of horrible events inside this book. With plague and disease in the city slums, dreadful disasters in Roundhay Park, and riots in the city centre, this is the real story of Yorkshire’s first city.

In 1888 London was the capital of the most powerful empire the world had ever known, and the largest city in Europe. In the west a new city was growing, populated by the middle classes, the epitome of 'Victorian values'. Across the city the situation was very different. The East End of London had long been considered a nether world, a dark and dangerous region outside the symbolic 'walls' of the original City. Using the Whitechapel murders of Jack the Ripper as a focal point, this book explores prostitution, poverty, revolutionary politics, immigration, the creation of a criminal underclass and the development of policing. It also considers how the sensationalist 'new journalism' took the news of the Ripper murders to all corners of the Empire and to the United States. This is an important book for those interested in the history of Victorian Britain.

Examining responses to migration and settlement in Britain from the Irish Famine up to Brexit, The Discourse of Repatriation looks at how concepts of removal evolved in this period, and the varied protagonists who have articulated these ideas in different contexts. Analysing the relationship between discourse and action, Renshaw explores how ideas and language originating on the peripheries of debate on migration and belonging can permeate the mainstream and transform both discussion and policy. The book sheds light both on how the migrant ‘other’ has been viewed in Britain, historically and contemporaneously, and more broadly how the relationship between state, press, and populace has developed from the early Victorian period onwards. It identifies key junctures where the concept of the removal of ‘othered’ groups has crossed over from the rhetorical to the actual, and considers why this was the case. Based on extensive original archival research, the book reassesses modern British history through the lens of the most polarised attitudes to immigration and demographic change. This book will be of use to readers with an interest in migration, diaspora, the development of populism and political extremes, and more broadly the history of modern Britain.