Introduction

Is that strong, inescapable image of 19th century city streets in our heads the right one? It's possible that there's a gap between the realities of street life in the Victorian city and how it has been thought of and portrayed in subsequent eras. Matthew Sweet is joined by historians Sarah Wise, Oskar Jensen, Lynda Nead and Fern Riddell to sift hard facts from picturesque imaginings.

Vagabonds: Life on the Streets of Nineteenth-Century London by Oskar Jensen is out now. Sarah Wise is the author of several books including The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum. Fern Riddell's books include The Victorian Guide to Sex: Desire & Deviance in the Nineteenth Century. Lynda Nead's writing on visual culture includes Victorian Babylon: people, streets and images in Nineteenth-Century London.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod