The People of the Abyss - Jack London

 

I read the book 'The People of the Abyss', many years ago. It is Jack London's account of several weeks that he spent living in the East End of London in 1902. I think he described walking down Mile End Road with two unemployed men. Every now and then, one man would bend down to pick something up off the pavement. Jack London thought he was picking up fag ends, but it turned out to be bits of food which he would put in his mouth. He saw people covered in small pox pustules.

As an American from California, I suspect that Jack London would be a far healthier specimen than many of the working-class Londoner's that he encountered. We shouldn't forget that in 1902, Britain was one of the richest countries in the world but many of its people lived in abject poverty. It was paradise for 30,000 and hell for 30,000,000, and it didn't have a problem with boat people.