What impact did Henry Mayhew’s writing have on his contemporaries?

Henry Mayhew: London Labour and the London Poor – an audio guide

In this Oxford World’s Classics audio guide, listen to Robert Douglas-Fairhurst of Magdalen College, Oxford University – who edited and selected this new edition – introduce Henry Mayhew’s ‘London Labour and the London Poor’. ‘London Labour and the London Poor’ originated in a series of articles for a London newspaper and grew into a massive record of the daily life of Victorian London’s underclass. Mayhew conducted hundreds of interviews with the city’s street traders, entertainers, thieves and beggars which revealed that the ‘two nations’ of rich and poor were much closer than many people thought. By turns alarming, touching, and funny, the pages of ‘London Labour and the London Poor’ exposed a previously hidden world to view. Listen to this audio guide to learn more about Henry Mayhew and his writing, Victorian society, and the slums of London. #OWCAudioGuides