People of the Abyss [Hardcover]

For London, the 'vast shambles' of the 'abyss' is an economic pit of despair, one into which 'pours a flood of vigorous strong life that not only does not renew itself, but perishes by the the third generation'. The city is a large maw into which tumble down the exploited millions, who eke out their lives in misery, dumb desperation and filth. At a time when the British Empire was at its height, and missionaries were traditionally sent to 'save' those doomed souls overseas, the impact of this book was great and assured London his reputation.

As investigative novelist with a socialist conscience, London took Dickens' earlier, famous pity married with concern for the poor to the next logical step, by actually spending time in the 'underworld of London with an attitude of mind ... like that of an explorer' in the summer of 1902. 'The People of the Abyss' is an account of those months and weeks, supplemented with official statistics and reports. Through his time he posed as an American seaman down on his luck, and never condescended to those he encountered. London's sojurn with those at 'the bottom' was not without a safety net however; he regularly took funds sewn into his clothes, and was happy to return to a shave and a bath when he was morally and physically exhausted.

His book interposes personal findings and offical data to construct an effective condemnation of the early Edwardian metropolis. The first half of his book has more of the sense of adventure and daring, the 'exploring' he describes, which is subtly changed by the degree of proselytising which follows. Despite the succeeding pages of court report extracts and economic league tables (or perhaps because of them) the best sections of the book are those which spring from the author's direct anger over injustices. Author London, as he makes clear, has seen both sides of the tracks already in the States, and finds the comparisons odious. His impressions of Britain's underbelly are written with an outrage hard to find elsewhere in literature at the time.

Occasionally a reader senses that reality has been sharpened to make a point. For instance when London claims to have encountered a VC decorated soldier at the end of his tether (a neat but, to modern eyes, somewhat contrived touch). When he claims detailed knowledge of tortured lives - which surely must have been privileged information - one suspects that characters and types have been melded and worked on by the novelist, the salient facts polished and prepared (but not invented) with the aim of creating more of an impact.

The selection of statistics, which fill a few pages, have somewhat faded in impressiveness, and are probably available today elsewhere in more comprehensive extract for the interested historian. Similarly a lot of the social background can now be consulted in more detail in many sources.(Even London feels constrained to mention such major contemporary works as those produced by Mayhew.) What redeems any doubts and weaknesses is London's concern for his subject matter, the urgency for reform he communicates on almost every page - married to an immediacy of portraiture which only a novelists skills provide.

London's brand of socialism of course was a very personal one (and the idiocyncracies of his politics were attacked by comrades later in his career). It has to be said that there is no sign of his later racism in this book where one might expect to see signs, for instance in 'The Ghetto' chapter. Marx never raises his head either, and Engels gets a bare mention. Instead of real revolution, the author ends rather lamely with an appeal for better 'management' of social systems, and a poem by Longfellow, rather than an over-significant quote from "Das Kapital' or such pertinent tracts. Such sentimentality can be a strength and a weakness, depending on your viewpoint and politics.

Some weaknesses aside, there are elements of the book which remain with one long after one has put it aside: the cruelty of the 'spike' for instance, or the irony of 'Coronation Day'; the scenes of degradation shown in 'A Glimpse of Inferno' and so on.

'People of the Abyss' remains one of London's best books, to be placed aside 'White Fang', 'The Sea Wolf' and 'The Iron Heel', and can be confidently recommended to casual readers and students of this author alike.

People of the Abyss is reminiscent of Upton Sinclair's classic about the Chicago meatpacking industry, written some decades later. I found it better written, more readable, and more convincing as an impetus for social change. Where Sinclair employed a fictional device to shock readers with deplorable working and living conditions around the stockyards, London's book is very much like a journalistic report, a book-length essay on his real-life, "undercover" experiences in the Abyss. Also, while both writers do more moralizing than is generally acceptable in today's literature, London does less of it than Sinclair does. Less exaggerating too.

The book has a lot of historical value, and makes an interesting read. It's fascinating to learn of the horrendous conditions suffered by millions of unfortunate Londoners a hundred years ago. The debate rages on as to whether present-day inner-city conditions have improved. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.