The Devil's Highway
Urban Anxieties and Subaltern Cultures in London's Sailortown, C.1850-1900
- 232 pages
- 9 hours of reading
The narrative explores Ratcliffe Highway, known as the 'devil's highway,' during the transformative years between 1850 and 1900. It delves into the lives of sailors who frequented its vibrant yet perilous establishments, highlighting the duality of solace and trouble they encountered. The book also addresses Victorian anxieties surrounding urban modernity, illustrating how these fears reshaped perceptions of the area as a chaotic and threatening urban landscape, while critically analyzing its role as a global economic hub intertwined with vice and exploitation.
