Clouds Of Glory

Clouds Of Glory

A Childhood in Hoxton

Summary

Hoxton today is one of the most fashionable parts of inner London, yet before the Blitz, it was the capital's most notorious slum area. It was London's busiest market for stolen goods, the centre of the pickpocket trade, home to a razor gang that terrorised racecourses all over southern England. Its main thoroughfare, Hoxton Street, was known also as the roughest street in Britain.

But among the people born there in its heyday was Bryan Magee, journalist, academic, philosopher, radio and television broadcaster and Member of Parliament. For him it was home, for his first nine years, until he became an evacuee on the outbreak of war. In this moving and beautifully written book he recalls the vanished world of his childhood and brings it to life again in all its drama and surprise.

Reviews

  • There are times when all the reviewer needs to write is "Read it, love it!"
    Arnold Wesker, Guardian

About the author

Bryan Magee

Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more