This is the first and most complete study of the London underworld, undertaken by publisher and journalist Henry Mayhew in the mid-19th century. Together with his assistants, the author visited the slums of the East End and collected true stories of thieves, corrupt women and other outcasts of society who make their living in dishonest ways, profiting from the vice or gullibility of the wealthier residents of the city. This book is a source of invaluable information for sociologists, historians and criminologists; in it you will find truly Dickensian plots and you will be convinced that over the past century and a half, the morals of townspeople and the techniques of swindlers have not changed that much. The publishing layout of the book is preserved in PDF A4 format.