From Jewish clothing merchants to Bangladeshi curry houses ancient docks to the 2012 Olympics the area east of the City has always played a crucial role in Londons history. The East End as it has been known was the home to Shakespeares first theatre & to the early stirrings of a mass labour movement; it has also traditionally been seen as a place of darkness & despair where Jack the Ripper committed his gruesome murders & cholera & poverty stalked the Victorian streets. In this beautifully illustrated history of this iconic district John Marriott draws on 25 years of research into the subject to present an authoritative & endlessly fascinating account. With the aid of copious maps archive prints & photographs & the words of East Londoners from 17th-century silk-weavers to Cockneys during the Blitz he explores the relationship between the East End & the rest of London & challenges many of the myths which surround the area.