SONGS OF SEVEN DIALS (HB)

In the 1920s and 1930s, Seven Dials was home to migrant and working-class communities, bohemian clubs and cafes. But business leaders and city planners had other ideas. Beginning with a rancorous libel trial of 1927, this book traces how tensions that simmered on the streets and finally exploded in court betrayed the politics of urban 'improvement' and the 'colour bar'. It explores questions that would define Britain in the twentieth century - about race, class, the boundaries of belonging, and the effects of gentrification.