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.
Hard Streets conjures the lost world of working-class London in the 19th and early 20th 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.
It was a time and place where hardship was the norm, but where talent, determination and luck could bring opportunity and success.
Hard Streets: Working-Class Lives in Charlie Chaplin’s London by Jacqueline Riding is published on 5 February, 2026.
This is one of 120 historical books published this year which are summarised in Historia’s Books to look out for feature.
