The Italian Boy

Jan 10, 2025 10:33 AM

Author:Sarah Wise

The Italian Boy

Towards the end of 1831, the authorities unearthed a series of crimes at Number 3, Nova Scotia Gardens in East London that appeared to echo the notorious Burke and Hare killings in Edinburgh three years earlier. After a long investigation, three bodysnatchers were put on trial for supplying the anatomy schools of London with suspiciously fresh bodies for dissection.They later became known as The London Burkers, and their story was dubbed 'The Italian Boy' case. The furore which led directly to the passing of controversial legislation which marked the beginning of the end of body snatching in Britain.

In The Italian Boy, Sarah Wise not only investigates the case of the London Burkers but also, by making use of an incredibly rich archival store, the lives of ordinary lower-class Londoners. Here is a window on the lives of the poor - a window that is opaque in places, shattered in others but which provides an unprecedented view of low-life London in the 1830s.

Reviews

Colourful without being sensationalist, the result is compelling

—— Andrew Holgate , Sunday Times

Brilliant

—— Christopher Hirst , Independent

Excellent...an impressively strong sense of 19th-century poverty seems to ooze from its pages and the details are fascinating

—— Toby Clements , Daily Telegraph

Engrossing...Wise exposes an entire "resurrection community" in London's underworld and shows how "The Italian Boy case" captured the public imagination

—— Ian Pindar , Guardian

A work of great skill and sympathy

—— Peter Ackroyd , The Times

Written with flair and plentifully illustrated

—— Michel Faber , Guardian

A gruesome and gripping study

—— Mark Sanderson , Sunday Telegraph

Wise handles her sources with delicacy and rigour... she can take credit for the lease smug and self-congratulatory book ever written on 19th century slum life

—— Matthew Sweet , Sunday Times

This is a terrific piece of social history

—— Gilda O’Neill , Sunday Express

Wise has brilliantly reconstructed the social histories of the period...The Italian Boy is a lip-smacking, gruesome joy from beginning to end

—— Roger Clarke , Independent

Wise has brilliantly combined a scalp-tingler with a scholarly account...It is exceptionally well organised, rich in data and hard to put down

—— Edward Pearce , Glasgow Herald

Anyone intrigued by this tumultuous city will devour London Under in a few transporting hours... packed with revelations... Ackroyd's stylistic brilliance explains why the book remains a rattling good read

—— Christopher Hirst , Independent

Fascinating study of everything under London, from rats and eels to monsters and ghosts.

—— Lady (Five-star review)

As London's anatomist-in-chief, Peter Ackroyd turns his focus on what lies beneath the capital's surface. Peppered with erudite and literary references, Ackroyd's fluent style makes for entertaining reading

—— James Urquhart , Financial Times

Packed with anecdotes and fascinating trivia...Ackroyd never misses an opportunity to link this hidden realm with the underworlds of mythology

—— Leon Burakowski , Halesowen Chronicle

Reveals the London beneath your feet in all its fascinating – and sometimes horrifying – glory. Historian and novelist Ackroyd invests his tales of buried rivers and catacombs with enormous energy

—— ELLE Decoration

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