'HARD STREETS is a rich and emotive study of a world now lost that will leave readers stunned' Hallie Rubenhold, author of THE FIVE Charlie Chaplin rose from the hard streets of Victorian London to become one of the most beloved comedians of all time. With his threadbare jacket, baggy trousers and puzzled expression, Chaplin's 'Little Tramp' alter ego was shaped by the city of his childhood - a place of ribald variety shows and hard drinking, radical politics and desperate poverty. In Hard Streets, Jacqueline Riding conjures the lost world of working-class London in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Weaving through Chaplin's iconic rags-to-riches story are the lives of music hall stars, political reformers and George Tinworth, a neighbour of Chaplin's mother and grandparents, who progressed from poor wheelwright to nationally renowned sculptor. Riding paints a striking portrait of a time and place where hardship was the norm, but where talent, determination and luck could bring opportunity and success.
| ISBN: | 9781800818644 |
| Publication date: | 5th February 2026 |
| Author: | Jacqueline Riding |
| Publisher: | Profile Books an imprint of Profile |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 432 pages |
| Genres: |
Social and cultural history Biography: arts and entertainment Theatre studies |
'HARD STREETS is a rich and emotive study of a world now lost that will leave readers stunned' Hallie Rubenhold, author of THE FIVE Charlie Chaplin rose from the hard streets of Victorian London to become one of the most beloved comedians of all time. With his threadbare jacket, baggy trousers and puzzled expression, Chaplin's 'Little Tramp' alter ego was shaped by the city of his childhood - a place of ribald variety shows and hard drinking, radical politics and desperate poverty. In Hard Streets, Jacqueline Riding conjures the lost world of working-class London in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Weaving through Chaplin's iconic rags-to-riches story are the lives of music hall stars, political reformers and George Tinworth, a neighbour of Chaplin's mother and grandparents, who progressed from poor wheelwright to nationally renowned sculptor. Riding paints a striking portrait of a time and place where hardship was the norm, but where talent, determination and luck could bring opportunity and success.
Hard Streets features in the following genres: Social and cultural history, Biography: arts and entertainment, Theatre studies
Hard Streets is available in Paperback, Hardback
Hard Streets was written by Jacqueline Riding and published by Profile Books an imprint of Profile
Hard Streets has 432 pages
£22.50