A slim volume of terrifying power

Through his eyes, we witness the depths of both human cruelty and human grace—and we're left grappling with what remains of Elie, a teenage boy caught between the two. I gain courage from his courage

Well written and well researched...gripping

A remarkable book... Löb has painstakingly re-examined the evidence, recreated the dramatic story of negotiation and rescue and paid warm tribute to Kasztner and his father for their courage and resourcefulness in terrible times

Awesome … one of the most unforgettable books I have ever read. I defy anyone to read it without weeping at its human suffering, cruelty and courage … a celebration of family love in an epoch of hellish cruelty … now in this book these righteous heroes have their rightful memorial

Precise and profound

Lucid, absorbing

As with her previous book The Italian Boy, Sarah Wise is superb on statistical detail... In every respect this is a note-perfect work of social history, thoroughly researched, charitable in its sympathies, and sadly still embodying lessons for today

Carefully researched... a wide-ranging study

Her achievement is remarkable... This engrossing work shines a light not only on a turbulent period in London's history, but on humanity itself. Only the best histories can claim as much

Spilling facts, lives, conditions, intolerable burdens and the spirit expressed by spontaneous dancing in the streets, The Blackest Streets is a little masterpiece

Extraordinary scholarship and rare sensitivity

Sarah Wise mines the archives to bring the local inhabitants back to life, and makes particularly brilliant use of the interviews that historian Raphael Samuel conducted in the 1970s with Arthur Harding.

As in her wonderful book The Italian Boy, she explores a milieu that was hungry, dirty, threadbare and exploited

Sarah Wise animates the horrors in fascinating detail