Dark London

A Journey Through the City's Mysterious and Macabre Underworld

Dr Drew Gray author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Quarto Publishing PLC

Published:4th Sep '25

Should be back in stock very soon

Dark London cover

Dark London brings together the history of the city’s seamier side, picking out the most scandalous, curious and bizarre aspects of London’s shadowy and fascinating underbelly.

This is one of those pick up, dip in, and find something interesting type of books. The trouble is, once you pick it up and dip in, it’s hard to put down. From beginning to end, this examination of London's dark, curious, and extraordinary history is as surprising as it is fascinating. A smashing book full of all-too-brief accounts of the extraordinary and often bizarre events in the history of London. Drew Gray is in his element. London has a dark history, some of which is truly extraordinary, and Gray knows it all.

From Paul Begg, Author of Jack the Ripper: The Facts


In this gruesome look at the dark underbelly of London, historian Drew Gray (Nether World) surveys nefarious events from 1750 to the beginning of WWII. Strikingly illustrated throughout with contemporaneous etchings and engravings, this makes for a gloriously grisly mood board.

Publishers Weekly


Newcomers to London’s sinister past and seasoned historians alike will greatly enjoy this journey with Drew Gray through the capital’s underworld, the mile-stones thoughtfully selected, expertly related, and beautifully presented.

Adam Wood, Crime and Policing Historian


An innovative and refreshing approach to the dark side of London's history in the modern era. Drew Gray provides readers with amusing and highly informative, bite-sized vignettes of significant individuals, institutions, events, locations, practices and other phenomena which together tell an evocative tale of life in England's capital city between 1750 and 1914. Dark London is both an irresistible volume for the coffee table of any history lover, and an incredibly useful reference book for budding social historians and anyone else who chooses to explore further the underbelly of the expanding, industrial metropolis.

Dr Rosalind Crone, Award-winning Historian, Writer and Broadcaster on Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

ISBN: 9781836004240

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 750g

192 pages