Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30039 in Books
• Published on: 1984-06-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From the Publisher
The half million selling classic novel of the Glasgow slum underworld.

From the Back Cover
No book is more associated with the city of Glasgow than No Mean City. First published in 1935, it is the story of Johnnie Stark, son of a violent father and a downtrodden mother, the 'Razor King' of Glasgow's pre-war slum underworld, the Gorbals. The savage, near-truth descriptions, the raw character portrayals, bring to life a story that is fascinating, authentic and convincing.

About the Author
No Mean City is the work of two authors, A. McArthur and H. Kingsley Long.

Customer Reviews

A Captivating Book
I first read this when I was about 13 years old, and although there were some details that I was to young to fully grasp, I fell in love with this book. Since then I've read it so many times I've lost count!

This story of pre-war Glasgow 'slum' life is told with understanding and yet without masking the realities of such a cruel world. Add to this the main character, Johnnie Stark, an enigmatic and startling character who takes you on a journey you'll NEVER forget, and you've got all the ingredients for a great book!

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Glasgow history, or even just wants a good read!

And even though I'm from Glasgow myself, I'm not just biased; this is an absolutely brilliant book!

good book about the gorbals
If you liked this book read Colin Macfarlane' brilliant account The Real Gorbals Story...he lived in the same streets during the 1960s.

Shocking Fiction
I have just finished reading a copy of this novel from my local library published in 1935. I read this work mainly as this book seemed to be used as measure of Glasgow's reputation and worth from 1935 to into the 1980's.

This novel remains shocking in its frank depiction of violence and maiming. If you want a fictionalised account of the seedy side of an industrial British City between the world wars then this is your book. If you want a factual account that you can refer to where authoritative comment is required then treat this book with caution.

There are points in the novel's narrative where I obtained the strong impression that Alexander McArthur (assisted by the journalist H.Kingsley Long - author of Limey: A Story of the English Gangs) was simply out to shock the 1930's readership with a sensationalist tabloid style novel of aggression and drink fuelled violence. In particular two of the characters that 'better' themselves by taking up professional ballroom dancing have to suffer the degradation of dancing the tango nude to suit the whim of their richer clients. This detail does not add to the narrative of the story at all. I can only think that this along with the unashamed adultery of two central characters and the ever more graphic descriptions of razor slashings were designed to rush copies of the book off the shelves in mid-1930's Britain.

In the original edition that I have just read there is an afterword. This supports the fiction with an edited selection drawn from contemporary press reports of 1921 to 1934. Many of these are from tabloid papers written in a sensationalist style.

This is a good example of sensationalist 1930's fiction.