Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

A one dimensional view of poverty in the UK

Customer Rating:

There are excellent parts of this book, especially the account of how immigrants, whose qualifications were ignored, needed only two generations of racist abuse to produce grandchildren, who are prolific gangsters. The book as a whole is a good read, but so are many novels! The limitations of the book arise from the author's view that the UK's problems are entirely due to rising inequality and a lack of government spending. Perhaps this is not surprising from a Guardian journalist, who wants to see the chattering classes, who are well-off but not TOO well-off, get more money and power. As a consequence, two major causes of poverty are barely analysed: family breakdown and drugs. The importance of drug abuse is obvious; many heavy users can't keep down a job. The relationship between family breakdown and poverty is at least circular and certainly not in one direction only, poverty causing family breakdown, as presented in the book. The failure of (mainly) fathers to support their children is a major cause of poverty. This is conveniently sidestepped. The role of the welfare state in actively promoting parental separation is not considered worth a mention. Other issues are similarly ignored: whether the ability of working class communities to regulate themselves has been removed by the encroachment of the state and/or immigration; whether poor-on-poor crime can be entirely explained by widening inequalities - the implication being that there has been a loss of moral values, the reasons for which should be explored; whether an economy can both be affluent and accomodate a high level of unskilled labour in a post-imperial era. 'The shocking truth about hidden Britain' should include how money is currenly wasted on middle-class pen pushers, who don't want to get their hands dirty. It doesn't, probably because these people are the target readership for this book. There is absolutely no discussion on whether the country gets value for the money that is already spent on social services, the police, local government, education and the NHS, all of which impinge heavily on the welfare of the most vulnerable in our society.

we all need to read this book	Customer Rating:
It will open your eyes to the hidden deprivation in this country and change your perspective on things. poverty is not the fault of the poor.

a tour of what you don't notice or don't want to see

Customer Rating:

This is very readable, and very important - a Dickensian look at modern Britain's 'underclass', though thankfully not as long-winded. The part I found most fascinating was about the estates in Birmingham that had become no-go areas for the police; I had heard some snippets on the radio and tv, wondered briefly how that worked, then put it to the back of my mind - it's fascinating to have the story fleshed out, and it's a great piece of research, as is the whole book. I was tickled pink to find someone I know slightly in the book - the guy who toured him round London's King's X, a friend of a friend, a likeable moocher and unusually peaceful. That's another story, but suffice to say that I found a world under my nose that I had never suspected and, from what I know of it, it's actually much worse than Davies describes or possibly imagines. So I would suggest to any readers that think he may be sensationalising that, in fact, he has only seen the tip of the iceberg. All in all a magnificent piece of research, vital reading, especially for those who have no contact with this world - you'll see things differently when you pass through a city centre, or railway station. Can't recommend this enough.

fascinating if depressing read

Customer Rating:

As a social work student, I found this book by accident in my uni. library and thought it would be relevant to my course. It is a fascniating, if thoroguhly depressing read as it dwells one hundred percent on the darkest side of Britain - hence its title. Although he goes in depth into the background of the problems (I found the chapters on the Jamacains the most interesting as it helps to build a background as to why so many are involved in crime) I do not agree with his simplistic view that all these problems are caused purely by poverty. Being poor alone does not make you become a criminal, an abuser, a rent boy and so on - people have been (and in many contries still are) much poorer than the poor of UK today, without going to those depths. A bit more enquiry into WHY these people have no self worth or morals whatsover would have been interesting.

Journalistic

Customer Rating:

For me, the journalistic, rather than academic style spoils the book slightly, though I guess that is the point. It is rather sensationalised though, and really much of the subject matter is reality rather than sensation. It is definitely a piece of "media" rather than a factual appraisal in my mind, based on the way stories are presented; particularly the issues surrounding the disturbances in Hyde Park, about which one story of the events and tensions is presented as fact, when (for those such as myself who lived in the area) there was a much more complex discourse. It is still a very good read though, and may open some peoples eyes.