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Dirty Old London by Lee Jackson
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My main thought while reading this was the more things change, the more things stay the same. The Brits are a funny group of people. They seem to want things to happen but only if someone else does it all for them. Whether it's getting various types of muck off the street or having clean water pumped into all homes and available freely for all, it seems we should expect a decision to take decades. Honestly, without intending to, Jackson has explained the approach being taken with Brexit. People voted to leave and are now abrigating their responsibility to inept politicians while those who voted remain are pushing for other inept politicians to do something when they're happy to back away and say, ih no, not us.
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Anyway, this isn't supposed to be getting political.
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Jackson has taken no prisoners with this book. The book is thorough, readable and very, very human. It shows us that human nature remains as it ever was. For every individual who wants to help, there are even more ready to cash in on the problem. Dirty Old London isn't for someone wanting a taster (perhaps not the best word) of Victorian cleanliness but for anyone with the stomach for some pretty gross history, this is definitely for you.
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If you are fastidious, don't like filth or stench, then you would have not wanted to live in Victorian times as there was plenty of both and even if you were wealthy it was no protection as there was no avoiding either! This is a really well researched book, filled with everything you could possibly want to know about this subject. There was a lot of fascinating information about grime, soot, toilets, housing, washing clothes and bodies etc, but there was also a lot about this or that committee, so and so said/did this, somebody else did that which wasn't nearly so interesting and I ended up skim reading these sections. The photos don't work too well on a kindle which is a shame. It is still worth reading this title to get a great insight as to how our forebears lived.