Book review: This Is London: Life And Death In The World City

LONDON is a kaleidoscopic — an ever-changing city as more and more people make it home. 

Ben Judah

Picador, €24.30;

ebook €9.20

Ben Judah, an acclaimed foreign correspondent hailing from the capital, does an exceptional job exploring the lives of those arriving looking for a better life, immersing himself in their world.

From cold, hungover mornings at Victoria Station, the capital’s Ellis Island, to sleeping rough with Romanian beggars in a subway at Hyde Park Corner, the writer goes above and beyond to tell the stories of London’s seen but unheard.

The book is a wonderfully-written, fascinating account of modern-day life, offering a glimpse of the world from those arriving in the city hoping for a better life.

The over-riding assessment is negative, whether it be the disillusioned Nigerian police officer claiming “the English are vanishing” or the Roma gypsy bemoaning the deceptive images on television.

It is, a thought-provoking look at London’s underbelly.