Children of the Ghetto

Children of the Ghetto by Israel Zangwill was published in 1892. It documents the lives of immigrant Jews who lived and worked in the Yiddish-speaking streets and densely packed alleys emptying into London's Petticoat Lane, the East End bazaar that was both marketplace and communal watering hole. Zangwill's portrayal of the uncertain situation of 'his people, ' which all too often had been painted in dreadfully sombre tones by earnest social reformers and drum-beating evangelists, is insightfully told with affectionate honesty and wryness of humour. Introduction by social historian and Victorian Series editor, Bob Biderman