THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS

Paperback. Reprint. Intro' by Jack Lindsay (1977). Written after posing as an American sailor stranded in the East End of London during 1902, sleeping in doss houses, living with the destitute and starving, this is perhaps Jack London's most important work. As well as being a literary masterpiece, the book stands as a major sociological study. While other American writers were blindly celebrating the glories of the British Empire at its peak, Jack London was asking why such misery was to be found in the heart of a capital city of immense wealth. Yet this book is a work of reportage, not of propaganda. Though the author occasionally gives vent to his indignation that human beings should receive such treatment, for the most part he lets his observations speak for themselves, and it is from this that the book gets much of its value. 128pp. p/back. Lightly browned pp., showing signs of shelf-wear o/w Vg.