Now available for the first time in more than a century, this unique book provides an insider's view of life inside a London workhouse in the 1880s. Originally published anonymously, a new preface by Peter Higginbotham uncovers the identity of the author and that of the workhouse he describes. The book, the only full-length account of workhouse life through an inmate's eyes, includes fascinating details of the characters who inhabited the institution and the sometimes nefarious practices engaged in by its staff.