Time to plug my book...

And as we were talking about people who've written books about the East End, here's mine!

'E1 - A Journey Through Whitechapel and Spitalfields' is due for publication by Five Leaves in November. It's A4 format, full of photographs and already on Amazon and the like. I've tried a different tack in exploring the East End here - the book almost takes on the form of a continuous walk through the area, but as well as the obvious stuff such as the Salvation Army, Immigration, Jack the Ripper, Bell Foundry etc, I've also taken a peek into the less well-known aspects.

I am rather excited about this as it has been an ongoing thing for many years. I basically started it in 1991 on an old typewriter and then had lots of distractions such as real life, blah blah. But when I returned to it in 2006, it soon became an entirely different animal - some of it was out of date for a start, bits had to be chopped out and new stuff put in. I was pleased to get opinions and comments from a number of people who know or live in the area and the whole package is now up to date. That said, the East End changes rapidly, so who knows, if it does OK a revised edition may be necessary!

Anyway, just so you know, it does mention the Kray Twins and as they would say, "buy E1... or we'll send the boys round".

http://www.inpressbooks.co.uk/e1_a_journey_through_whitechapel_and_spitalfields_bennett_john_i019690.aspx

Talk at the Museum in Docklands

Well I said I'd have to say something about the talk involving Iain Sinclair, Rachel Lichtenstein and Bill Fishman, so here it comes.

This was the second event I had been to at the Jack the Ripper exhibition and the second one to feature a trio of awe-inspiring speakers. The first was a Ripper-based talk featuring Stewart P Evans, Robin Odell and Paul Begg, a veritable holy trinity of Ripperologists. Evans is outspoken as ever, Begg's presentations are laced with his dry wit and Odell is quite simply a gentleman of the old school. It was nice to spend time with them in the pub afterwards, although when you're in the company of Messrs Evans and Begg, a relative newbie like me is quite happy to let them chat away.

The 'Jewish East End' talk (June 22nd) was also a cracker. Presided over by Jerry White, the speakers gave their own individual perspectives on the history, events and development of the East End. If you can boil it down to basics, it goes something like this:

Bill Fishman provides an academic and political angle, particularly when it comes to Jewish issues, but in no way is he dry. A fascinating storyteller, he described the Battle of Cable Street and made it come alive in the lecture theatre. After all, he was there and there probably aren't that many people alive today who remember it.

Rachel Lichtenstein seems to focus on the human story - her talk spoke of her quest for her roots, her involvement with Rodinsky's Room and she mentioned some of the colourful characters that still inhabit the area around Brick Lane. She has a talent for seeking out the real people of the East End (not the tourists) and getting them to open up.

Iain Sinclair was the only speaker to touch on the Whitechapel Murders, essential as it is to some of his works. Sinclair has gained a reputation as an exponent of psychogeography, in that he actively seeks out the hidden, mythical and coincidental in London's streets.

As somebody whose interest in the East End often overtakes his Ripper studies, this talk to me was heaven - once again, a holy trinity. And lest we forget Jerry White, whose own experiences of the crumbling tenements of Spitalfields pushed him into capturing the accounts of those who lived in them.

This was a rare opportunity to simultaneously witness 3, or should I say 4, legends in the field of 'East End-ology' (for want of a better word) in action. If you have any interest in this subject too, I'd recommend any (or all) of these books by them:

The Streets of East London (Bill Fishman)

East End 1888 (Bill Fishman)

Whitechappell:Scarlet Tracings (Iain Sinclair)

Rodinsky's Room (Iain Sinclair and Rachel Lichtenstein)

On Brick Lane (Rachel Lichtenstein)

Rothschild Buildings (Jerry White)

I was dead chuffed as I managed to get several of my books signed by all three authors. It was a fine day indeed.