Soho: London's vicious circle

How little has changed. I read this book because it was mentioned in the introduction of James Morton's Bent Coppers as a "notable exception" to the multitude of crime writers who have "eschewed the gory details of the bad behaviour of the police." But to my dismay this was only because Tietjen spent four pages discussing the case of Sergeant George Goddard, a Soho copper whose job it was to supervise nightclubs and restaurants and so on, and who it seems took over £12,000 in bribes for notifying owners of any impending raids. The rest of the book is exactly what you would expect from a Daily Mail journalist. Having found a subject about which he is free to make anything up at all, Tietjen addresses the subject of Soho villainy in show more sensationalist, trite, harping tones and soberly concludes it would be better if the state demolished Soho and rebuilt it. He does mention Goddard, but he is at all times lavishly sycophantic to the police. He is also, I am sure, a moral hypocrite. This book does cover the Race Gang wars, which if memory serves provided some material to Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, and this was interesting if largely unrelated to Soho. Very much a disappointing read. Will contine with the Morton however, and see how that fares. show less