The London Journal
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thelondonjournal.bsky.social
The London Journal
@thelondonjournal.bsky.social
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A journal embracing all aspects of metropolitan society past & present | Published by Taylor & Francis for London Journal Trust | Articles & Special Issue proposals welcome | thelondonjournal.org
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thelondonjournal.bsky.social
We'll have another issue out in the new calendar year, but do keep an eye out for other announcements and threads from us in the meantime, as we continue our 50th anniversary celebrations. Thanks for reading!
November 28, 2025 at 6:38 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
And rounding off the issue is @therealdrdark.bsky.social's review of London’s South Bank: The History, written by Mireille Galinou and illustrated by Stephen Conlin.
www.tandfonline.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
The penultimate book review in this issue is of 'St Giles-in-the-Fields: The History of a London Parish' by Rebecca Preston and Andrew Saint, as reviewed by Francis Calvert Boorman.
www.tandfonline.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:35 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
We also have Rohan McWilliam's review of London 1984: Conflict and Change in the Radical City by Stephen Brooke.
London 1984: Conflict and Change in the Radical City
Published in The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and Present (Vol. 50, No. 3, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:33 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
Followed by Nether World: Crime and the Police Courts in Victorian London by @drewdgray.bsky.social, reviewed by Hilary S. Morris.
Nether World: Crime and the Police Courts in Victorian London
Published in The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and Present (Vol. 50, No. 3, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:29 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
We finish the issue with a series of book reviews: firstly, Civil War London: Mobilizing for Parliament, 1641–45 by Jordan S. Downs, reviewed by Alex Beeton.
www.tandfonline.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:28 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
The issue also features an review of the London Museum of Docklands' 'Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London's Lost Treasures', by @jwbrown.bsky.social.
www.tandfonline.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:25 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
And finally, 'The Survey of London Today: Reconciling the Granular with the Global' by Sarah A. Dowding, Emily Mann and Aileen Reid.

All of these Viewpoints are currently freely available to read, along with the recommended companion pieces in each of the threads.
November 28, 2025 at 6:20 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
Secondly, 'The City of Dreadful Night?' by
@mcmccluskey.bsky.social.
November 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
The issue also contains three Viewpoint articles, which we've previously threaded about, and we will link those threads to this one. Firstly, 'Guilds and Companies in London, 1200–1700: Contexts and Comparisons' by @mpdavies.bsky.social.
November 28, 2025 at 6:15 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
And last but not least, the 2024 Curriers Prize winning 'Stories from Smithfield: Markets and the Narration of London', by @jackhanlon.bsky.social: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Abstract Throughout London’s history, marketplaces have not only been integral to its economy but also to how the city was imagined. Drawing on a diverse range of archives and sources—from tabloid journalism and film, through to oral history and photography—this article examines the ‘narration of London’ at one of the city’s most famous market sites, Smithfield. It focuses upon three moments when London’s meat market came to be seen as emblematic of the city’s story: as an ‘anvil’ for modernisation in the mid-nineteenth century; as an ‘insider’s’ account of the commercial empire in the early twentieth century; and as the last remnant of a ‘London lost’ on the eve of a new millennium. This article argues that the narrative power of the marketplace lies in its capacity for temporal rupture and connection—an ideal stage for dramatising the relationship between urban past and present. It shows how starkly and stereotypically gendered representations of Smithfield’s male workforce became one important means of understanding and articulating urban change.
November 28, 2025 at 6:11 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
Our penultimate research article of the issue is 'The Queen Catherine Court Slum Clearance Scheme: A Turning Point in the History of Social Housing in London', by Patricia Coveney Sears: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.....
Abstract Maps provide a valuable resource to historians and genealogists, but the neat rows of compact houses in the courtyard of the Queen Catherine pub in Ratcliff, home to four of my Irish great-great-grandparents, only hint at the living conditions of its occupants. This article draws together evidence from newspapers, archival sources, censuses, and other genealogical records to provide a conjectural reconstruction of Queen Catherine Court. The overdevelopment and overcrowding of the site resulted in it being declared unfit for human habitation in 1888, but owing to decades of laissez-faire ideology and fragmented local government, slum clearance and the provision of social housing in London had been beset by intractable problems. A flagship project of the London County Council, the Queen Catherine Court scheme was finally brought to completion in 1903 by Stepney Borough Council, marking a first in the capital's history of social housing.
November 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
Followed by 'A Romani Capital? Romanies and London in the Eighteenth Century', by @jamesepeate.bsky.social: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Abstract The history of Romanies in England during the eighteenth century has been largely neglected by existing historical scholarship. Yet, the Romani experience of and in London had a notable impact on the capital's culture and the ways in which Romanies or ‘Gypsies’ would be portrayed for years to come. This article explores how, in the early part of the century, the Romani settlement at Norwood in south London enabled interaction and integration between Londoners and their Romani neighbours. During the second half of the century, Norwood was enclosed, and interactions between Romanies and south Londoners diminished. What remained was an experience of Romani culture drawn primarily not through interactions with an established Romani population, but from a stereotypical ‘Cultural Gypsy’ that was portrayed in literature and on stage.
November 28, 2025 at 6:05 PM
thelondonjournal.bsky.social
First up is 'The Politics of Wardship: A New Perspective on Societal Dissatisfaction and Civic Unrest in Late Fourteenth-Century London', by @dralrs.bsky.social: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Abstract This article uses socio-political research on wardship practices in late fourteenth-century London to provide a fresh perspective on the broader political turmoil of the period. By examining the social politics of key civic figures like John Pecche, a draper and alderman who exploited guardianship for personal gain, the article reveals a clearer picture of societal dissatisfaction. Pecche’s exploited ward, John Costantyn, later aligned with John Northampton, a reformist politician who advocated for transparency and ethical governance. Costantyn’s resentment toward his manipulated guardianship, alongside Northampton’s moral campaign, added fuel to a wave of civic unrest, ultimately leading to Costantyn’s execution. Through these interconnected lives, this article presents the role of civic guardianship as a catalyst in reshaping accountability and transparency, and examines how personal ambition, social responsibility, and political reform converged, ultimately transforming urban governance and the expectations of civic leaders in late medieval London.
November 28, 2025 at 6:03 PM