Our East End (Large print, Hardcover, Large type / large print edition)

This oral history of London's East End spans the period after World War I to the upsurge of prosperity at the beginning of the 1960s--a time period which saw fresh waves of immigrants in the area, the Fascist marches of the 1930s, and its spirited recovery after virtual obliteration during the Blitz. Piers Dudgeon has listened to dozens of people who remember this fiercely proud quarter to record their real-life experiences of what it was like before it was fashionable to buy a home in the Docklands. They talk of childhood and education, of work and entertainment, of family, community values, health, politics, religion, and music. Their stories will make you laugh and cry. It is people's own memories that make history real and this engrossing book captures them vividly.