Popular Culture in London C.1890-1918

This thoroughly researched narrative recreates London's popular culture from the close of the Victorian era to the end of World War I.

In doing so it charts the interaction between stage, song, sport and cinema, which created "celebrity", a modern type of fame that has been more recently exploited by such people as The Beatles, Michael Jordan and the Spice Girls. By recreating London's popular culture as audiences experienced it, the work emphasizes the critical interaction between performers and audiences which continuously changed or "updated" popular culture by incorporating public crazes.

Such crazes included cycling, motoring, flying, football and boxing.

Such public fascination forced performers, writers and athletes to incorporate these crazes into their routines. Academics have generally seen popular culture as a means of investigating social control and cultural hegemonies, because by the turn of the century the middle classes owned the stadiums and theatres, forcing audiences to hear patriotic, conservative performers, or up-lifting edifying sober entertainment.

This work combines academic rigour with a sympathetic understanding of popular culture to assert that the ordinary punters, the men and women who bought tickets for a variety of stage performances, had profound influence in shaping popular culture.