Interesting, but I felt a bit uneasy about the author inserting his own (decidedly 21st century) thoughts and mores into the narrative. I mean, if you pick up a book like this, I think it's a given that you don't agree with Victorian ideas of poverty and the disadvantaged, but would rather find out more about what it actually was like living in poverty during that period. Also, I found it a bit jolting to hear about a person's life, only for the author to yank me out of it and just drop the subject to move on to something/someone else. This could have been done a bit more elegantly.
Overall a good, necessary read, though.

Drawing on hundreds of contemporary records, written and illustrative, this remarkable book gathers together portraits of the entertainers, actors, singers, illusionists, beggars, thieves, pickpockets, prostitutes, misfits and eccentrics that peopled the streets of Georgian and Victorian London.
Covering the period from 1780-1870, historian Oskar Jensen dives fearlessly into a picaresque tragi-comedy, bringing a memorable cast of characters to smelly, battered, irrepressible life.
The book is arranged in sections equating to the ‘seven ages of man’ – beginning, naturally, with The Infant. And the first infant we meet will play a part – pun most certainly intended – throughout Jensen’s narrative. Born in November 1787 to Mary Ann Carey – “a hawker, a vagrant … seduced and abandoned” – the child grows up to be the most lauded actor of his generation, Edmund Kean. Even with his miserable start in life, in a bare, dank room in Gray’s Inn Road, he was one of the few fortunate ones. For a start, he was born in a house – even though he then spent months at a time in the care of acquaintances and relatives while his mother pursued her travelling life, and was completely abandoned on at least one occasion. Many other children whose often brief lives are recorded here lived literally in the gutter, sheltered, if they were lucky, by a costermonger’s barrow, or a niche in a warehouse wall.
Succeeding chapters examine the impact of street living on The Boy, The Girl, The Immigrant, The Pro, The Renegade and – most pathetic of all – The Elder. The stories told here, gathered from a huge range of sources – memoirs, diaries, letters, public records – reveal the awful truth that children, and adults too, were sometimes better off living in the gutter than being confined to the workhouse. “The street and the poorhouse make for a simple – if sometimes perplexing – contrast,” Jensen writes. “One offers a precarious kind of freedom, the other safety at a steep cost to pride and liberty.”
The role of philanthropists and social reformers also comes under close and critical scrutiny, along with the middle and upper-classes who – perhaps inadvertently, perhaps not – exploited and brutalised their less fortunate fellows. Dr Barnardo – revered social reformer and friend of abused and underprivileged children – is just one of the well-known names to come in for severe criticism.
The varying degrees of misery experienced by each generation of street-dwellers could add up to a deeply depressing portrait of London life, but there are enough success stories and glimpses of sly humour to lighten the gloom.
When you reach the end of this whirlwind tour of London low-life, there is – miraculously – yet more to come. The notes and bibliography go on for many pages, and are almost as compelling as the book itself: a treasure trove of esoteric detail and further reading for anyone with an interest in the history of London, the performing arts and the emergence of urban ‘philanthropy’.
This is a book to be treasured, read and re-read, finding something new and arresting every time.

I really felt like I was being transported back in time when reading this book. It was such an informative and joyous read - never once feeling like I was reading a textbook or being weighed down with too much info,

When I read the blurb to this book, all I could think was ‘Victorian social history – I’m in!’ I’m sad to say that although interesting and informative I found it a tough read. The books whole purpose seems to be telling the untold and often unwritten stories of London’s street people, but I can’t say that the author ever really provides enough of their stories for the reader to identify with these people; not as characters, but as the individuals themselves.

The writing was dry, which to a certain extent with non-fiction you expect, but I found myself wanting to skip over the text in places. Instead of opting for a recounting of the facts and trusting the reader’s ability to understand, process and not discriminate, Jensen hammers his opinions and views into the text. In doing so the author makes this book a critique of historical sources, rather than it being an opportunity to tell unheard stories. Sadly, and more often than not, Jensen’s ‘facts’ either contradict or negate the weight of the voices of the past, leaving us with very little learned and more questions than when they started.

Personally, the most frustrating thing for me was when the author started telling one person’s story and a few sentences later came to an abrupt halt. Jensen then tells the reader where he read about this person and that they can go and read more about them there. Jensen – I opened your book to hear their stories, not for you to point me in another direction!

Now that I’ve written this review part of me feels that ‘Vagabonds’ isn’t worth the 3 stars I’ve given it. At the end of the day though, the information this books contains has taken a lot of research and analysis and I am appreciative to Jensen for that.

A really immersive & brilliant account of the poverty ridden 19th century London told through the eyes of the marginalized and the forgotten voices of the time. Voices that cried out their wares, services, lived and worked on the streets.
Jensen paints a picture of London with little to noting historical and journalistic evidence available that captured their existence in time and brings us their stories with dignity is lacking when they are addressed with.

The authors voice and intentions are clear, he wants to us understand, feel and hear their perspective, share and evoke empathy among the readers of the book.

A well written history book I have read in a long line.

Thank you Duckworth Books and Net Galley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vagabonds is self-consciously light touch history. Jensen's collection of stories of life on the streets and the margins on 18th and 19th Century London does not add up to any grand narrative of the development of London, or British society. Indeed Jensen's foreword is strictly against those types of conclusions, rather he wants to give an opportunity of these people who are usually glossed over in history a chance to speak. And where possible (and he has done a terrific job in sourcing here), he wants to do it in their own voice - so as many direct quotes from journalists and court reporters as possible. Because sadly in a lot of these cases we know about them because of run-ins with the courts, where the Lord Mayor is trying to fine, expel or send to the workhouse someone or other for just trying to make a living on the street. Between poverty and the hardcore busybodies of the Mendicant Society, it was tough out there.

Thematically the book runs through its chapters grouped around either age or societal status. So we get chapters of birth, boys, girls (less on girls because society wasn't as interested in them, and then it was in a different way). He looks at immigration into the city from the rest of the country, and from outside - threading nicely the truism that there have always been people of colour in the capital, and they have usually been treated badly. We see stories of ingenuity in crime, derring-do for street-sweepers -helping people across the road has never been so dangerous. And often we get moments of true pathos when these folks called into court, plainly lay on the line their situation. If a girl is stopped from selling lavender, then what is left to sell. There is no safety net.

Vagabonds is a great bit of scholarship that is also an excellent casual read. Jensen only lightly editorialises, to give context and in some cases stand up for a society we don't understand (there is a case where a woman who has lived as a man and their partner has their prefer pronouns used in a way that many politicians today would refuse to do out of spite). I was initially surprised that it didn't really have much int he way of a conclusion, but that is kind of the point. Jensen gives voice to the voiceless and he is not about to try to talk over those voices to tell us what it all means. It was tough, some people survived, some didn't but remember those people on the street, toiling day to day just to get by, that's most of history.

Vagabonds is a very vivacious tableau of London's streets in the 19th century. Oskar Jensen tries to give a voice to the voiceless: the street performers, the costermongers, the petty criminals, the beggars. Those we read so much about from the point of view of the other, but never from their own points of view. It must have been a monumental task to try to pin point this lost voices in the ocean that is history. Especially as written history seem to be mostly done by the rich and powerful and/or by the politically motivated, with their own bias leaking into the writing.

From the baby to the old and everyone in between, they all have a place and a voice in the pages of Vagabonds. And as much as I loved every story, I've been left wanting more. Which, I guess is a testament to Jensen's ability to really bring to life this characters that so contributed to the rambunctious of street life. A real shame that history has erased so many!

My thanks to NetGalley and Duckworth publishing for the opportunity to review this book.
Perhaps like most I have a glossed over version of poverty in Georgian, Victorian London helped along by watching ‘Oliver’.
This fascinating book brings reality strongly into focus. Using first hand accounts and testimony it had me both angry and in tears in equal measure. This was poverty on a totally different level.
I can totally recommend this book especially for the genealogist’s this is fascinating, informative and will make you look at your family tree in a different appreciable light.

I’m absolutely blown away by this book. Vagabonds is the story of real people told in their own words. But they’re voices that are rarely heard; those at the underbelly of the social scale. Through meticulous and extensive research, Oskar Jensen has selected a diverse range of individuals and brought them to life with a narrative which is often heartbreaking.

I was immediately drawn in to the book in the opening pages where a young woman in court for stealing challenges the magistrate. Her rationale is concise and the consequences are appalling. She fully understands the desperation of her situation and there’s no way out, particularly in a society where the impoverished had no rights and fewer expectations.

There’s real spirit in every tale and there’s depth and strength in every individual. This, for me, is the way history should be told. It’s stark but brilliant to hear a narrative that isn’t from the titled or privileged. It’s a real vox pop and sadly, many stories still resonate in the 21st century. Outstanding slice of social history and I highly recommend it.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

A thought-provoking look at street people in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Using sources which try to capture the voices of the people involved, the author lays out the lives of those who lived their lives visibly on the street. He has organised the book into something approximating Shakespeare’s seven ages of man. This has the advantage of comparing experiences across time and situation. Some of these accounts come from various charity bodies and individuals who bring their own prejudices to bear, so we can regard those discussed with a 21st century viewpoint. Although this can also lead us into assumptions that would not have been applicable to people in their own time. The stories can be funny, poignant and horrific, sometimes all for the same person. There can be a sense of anger at injustice, and a realisation that, like today, a couple of bad apples can colour our opinion of a whole group.
There are a couple of small disadvantages to the book. Firstly, the stories chosen are those of people who stand out in some fashion, so the average “man, or woman, in the street” may be a little disregarded. The second is more specifically down to me, in that I found it difficult to keep track of all the various names, particularly when characters reappeared in different chapters of the book, without much identification. I was glad to have an electronic copy of the book so I could use the Search function to remind myself of past references.

A very interesting read, and with an extensive bibliography that could lead you to on further reading on the subject.

I had a copy of this book early through Netgalley.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Life in 19th Century London was not easy for most people but for the poor, it was one hardship after another. We have a clear idea of what it must be like from book and film but this book opens the readers eye more to real existence of those who had to survive on the streets, without a roof over their heads, no matter how humble that might be.

Some were born there, others abandoned there and some left to live the vagabond life because it was far better the experience of living with “loving” parents. It does tend to jump around a bit which can be disconcerting at first but the stories are so compelling that the reader soon learns to go with the flow. There are stories of those like Edmund Keen who became the pre-eminent actor of his time who chose to be a vagabond because he wanted to perform. There are also stories of many men, self taught, who through intelligence and hard work became successful. Much of the material comes from contemporary sources. What is fascinating is putting the words into modern context.

Perhaps the most compelling of all were the stories of young girls who through no fault of their own needed to survive on the streets. How they were viewed and subsequently how history has viewed them has been, for many, an insult. When they grew into puberty, the leering men of the time viewed them as fallen women. They were not all beggars or prostitutes. I found their stories particularly moving. It makes the reader rethink the dialogue that we hear today about those who live on the streets.

It is not an easy read but it is interesting. Four purrs and two paws up.

Incredible insights into marginalised, disenfranchised and disempowered groups. The information is presented in an incredibly engaging and accessible way, with case studies and personal perspectives woven throughout.

A well written fascinating lok at street people in the 19th century.The author does an excellent job of bringing us into the world the live of these Vagabonds .Anyone who is interested in history will find this book very interesting.Highly recommend.#netgalley #duckworthbooks

Distancing from the pedantic, moralistic, and often prejudiced narratives of the past, Oscar Jensen provides an extensive and empathetic look into the history through the rarely mentioned lives of the lower classes and the poor. Vagabonds is a fascinating look into the past, and from the get go, the author makes his stand clear - the poor are not the stereotypical caricatures depicted by the sneering middle-class and are not the objects of pity and derision of the upper classes. However, instead of opting for the clinical recounting of the facts and trusting the reader's ability to distinguish and not discriminate, the author continously hammers his opinions and views into the text. And sadly, and more often than not, his 'facts' either contradict or negate the weight of the voices of the past. The gendered segregation in topics of prostitution (author fails to note that men are also the victims of sex trade) and the exclusion of the queer people from the narrative stands out. All in all, Vagabonds is an intriguing read despite its several shortcomings.

A really interesting and well researched book, I loved the fact it’s focused on the poor, something not often covered in history books and the diversity in this is wonderful, covering gender, sexuality, class and race and how these affected those in poverty in nineteenth-century London. A thoroughly well written and interesting history and would be a great addition to anyones self learning

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This was a really fascinating read! I absolutely adore how in depth the research was. One thing that stood out to me as particularly impressive was the diversity of the content. It looked at gender, sexuality, age, class, race and how all of these things affected individuals in the face of poverty in nineteenth-century London. It’s really refreshing when history books don’t gloss over topics like these. This book truly something special and I genuinely enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for the arc!

Really readable social history that brings the bottom layer of society into sharp focus for once. The author is clearly a character and quite funny in parts. Life on the streets is hard at any time but 18th/19th century England is very hard but character and strength still shone through.

Oskar Jensen is a Senior Research Associate at the University of East Anglia. His latest book, Vagabonds, uses a series of case studies to show us what it was like to be on the street in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Jensen uses writing by or about a series of men, women, boys, girls, old, young – so that we meet them as individuals, not as nameless exemplars.

Jensen is keen to emphasise how much the people of the street valued their independence and freedom, even at an early age. “[…] for many of London’s poor infants, life in the street might seem preferable to life in an institution.” They are often harassed by do-gooders (or, in the case of the Mendicant Society, vicious hypocrites who think all poor people are shamming). The book opens with Mary Ann Donovan up before a magistrate (the Lord Mayor of London, no less) in 1859. She’s charged with selling combs on Cornhill. The Lord Mayor tells her that the combs were a cover for immodest purposes and, besides, she’s liable to a fine of forty shillings or one month’s imprisonment. Donovan asks what a poor girl is supposed to do? She can’t take a shop; if she sells combs, she’ll be fined or sent to jail; if she begs, she’ll be sent to jail; if she steals, goodness knows what will happen to her; and she won’t become a prostitute – so, again, what should she do? The Lord Mayor doesn’t like her answering back and imprisons her.

The book is structured around Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man, starting with the birth of Edmund Cary (better known in adulthood as Edmund Kean, the famous actor) and finishing with Charles Mackey, reputed to be either 87 or 110 when he died in 1854. This gives a wide variety of case studies. We meet some of the cast, such as Billy Waters and Charles Humphreys, more than once through the book – and Jensen does use a large cast to illustrate his chapters.

I enjoyed the book but I did find some passages rather overwritten for my taste. Also, all the examples are from the streets of London. I did wonder whether life on the street of other cities was very similar or vastly different.

#Vagabonds #NetGalley

I'm really interested in social history and found this book fascinating in shedding a light on the vagabonds of 19th century London. The author has obviously done meticulous research and was able to present many of the people in their own words, or from court documents, thus presenting a very different picture to the loveable rogue or shameless beggar characters beloved of authors of the time. The mendicity committee was an awful institution offering only the choice of freedom and poverty or workhouse and poverty an option well explained by the author in their very readable prose.
As he does on occasion in the book, it is sometimes hard not to draw comparisons with the present cost of living crisis and the need for foodbanks etc when people can't afford to feed themselves and their families or find an affordable place to live.
It should be required reading for every politician.
thank you to netgalley and duckworth books for an advance copy of this book

4.25/5

One of the most difficult parts of writing about the past is capturing the lives of the people--and yet, the lives of the people is often the thing that makes the past so fascinating to so many. What was it like to live back then? Vagabonds answers this question with a single-minded focus: It describes the lives of the people who lived on London's streets in the 19th century, organised chronologically according to the different stages of life--infancy, childhood, adolescence, the age of travel and immigration (adulthood), and finishing with old age and death. The book is a fascinating combination of modern values--Jensen makes no bones about coloring the narrative with his own progressive opinions about feminism, trans rights, colonialism, and race--and 19th century voices. He takes great effort to use primarily contemporary accounts, and as much as possible the words of those people themselves: memoirs, court transcripts, interviews, and so on.

This focus on primary accounts and first-person narratives is a rhetorical choice that comes with advantages and drawbacks. The advantages are numerous: Jensen is very careful to present the lives of these people with the utmost respect and sympathy, recognizing their courage and independence and own desire for self-determination in the face of wildly oppressive systems that presented themselves as charities and aids, while in fact just making a hard life that much harder. Throughout the entire book the Mendicity Society--ostensibly a charity set up to assist the beggars ('mendicants') of London streets--lurks as a villain. Since begging is illegal, the Mendicity Society often operates not to assist beggars, but to investigate and charge them with the crime of begging, locking them up in prisons rather than helping them change their circumstances. When the naive, new to town, hear that the Mendicity Society is there to help, and willingly apply for aid, they get not the aid they need--a replacement tool to carry out a trade--but the most condescending treatment and charity that is useless to them.

Individuals, too, like to think of themselves as charitable benefactors, but instead just make life harder. This is particularly evident in the chapter on the lot of young women, who are forever seen as being either sex workers or on the road to becoming sex workers, and whatever their actual profession, they must forever ward off the attentions of men who want to 'rescue' them. Worse, in the case when they actually need help, they only get it if they can present themselves as the right kind of woman in distress: genuinely repentant for having fallen into sin; responsible for a small child (children are incredibly valuable assets for soliciting charity, to the point that there is a small industry in loaning out children to make women seem more sympathetic); and above all pretty. Society likes to think of itself as a fount of Christian charity, but only for the 'worthy', and those who are not worthy--or who cannot present themselves as worthy--are either ignored or else locked up in jails for the crime of being poor.

Yet by focusing specifically on the perspectives of the street people themselves, Jensen necessarily restricts the scope of what he can discuss. This isn't necessarily a problem. Indeed, he navigates this restriction extremely nimbly in explaining why, when talking about adolescence, he must separate the experience of boys and girls, and why the experience of boys is mostly in their own words, while the experience of girls is primarily told through other people's eyes, and usually heavily features the male gaze. These girls are almost always described in terms of their proximity to sex work. On the one hand, this is the result of the fact that boys grew up to be men, who got to write memoirs and tell their own stories, while women's writing tended not to be published or survive. So we have a survivorship bias: the only words that survive are mostly men's, and men of course have a male gaze. But, on the other hand, because of the heavily patriarchal society, it's not the case that these young women's lives were ever actually free of the male gaze in the first place, so the unbalanced focus in tellling their stories is to some extent going to reflect the unbalanced experience that boys and girls lived. Jensen does a very good job navigating this incredibly thorny issue.

Nevertheless, this restriction of focus does, in the end, leave gaps in the story. I wanted to know more about the institutional underpinnings that governed the world these street people lived. How, exactly, did the Mendicity Society work? Where did its money come from, what was its stated mission, how many people a year did it lock up/prosecute/feed/'assist'? What other charities were there? How did the workhouse system work? What, exactly, were the poor laws, and how were they administered and adjusted throughout the nineteenth century? All of these systems are mentioned when the stories of the individual street people come up against them, but I didn't have any broader perspective about how they worked.

Nevertheless, this limited perspective is a rhetorical choice: Jensen is not telling the history of street poverty, but the stories of street people, and so I cannot criticise him too harshly for having written the book he wanted to write, rather than the book wish he had written. And in the context of the book he chose to write, he has succeeded admirably.