Overview

Peter Rachman dominated housing in post-war London - he owned vast swathes in the west of the city, accumulating huge wealth as his tenants lived in squalor and fear of his hard-nosed collectors and enforcers. He was also at the heart of the city's murky, post-war underworld. In Slumlord, Neil Root pulls back the curtain on this seedy world to paint a portrait of a fascinating man whose path intersected with figures as diverse as Christine Keeler, the glamorous society girl at the heart of the Profumo Scandal, and Michael X, the Black Power activist who later went on to be hanged for double murder. Ruthless in his ambition, Rachman was the archetype of the exploitative landlord, and a man who was willing to exploit the prejudices of his time in order to maximise profits. He is also a compelling leading man in a story of post-war London, a city where, among the grime and the rubble, fortunes could be made. You just had to hold your nose, abandon your morals and be willing to take from those less fortunate. AUTHOR: Neil Root is an author of seven non-fiction book and has twice been longlisted for CWA Gold Dagger Award. He has also written for a variety of outlets including BBC News Magazine, Press Gazette, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

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9781837732784

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Reviews

Neil Root's well-researched and recounted portrait of Peter Rachman moves effortlessly from fleeing anti-semitism in Poland to poncing off west London's Windrush generation, gambling with gangsters and entertaining high society hookers. Today, Rachmanism is a byword for bigger racketeering by developers, crooked councils and maintenance firms behind the UK's housing crisis and the obscene profiteering of London's private landlords. Tiktokers take heed and buy this book. * Michael Gillard, author of Legacy: Gangsters, Corruption and the London Olympics * Thorough, yet well-paced, the book is peppered with colourful tales of Rachman's social circle. Impeccably researched and full of surprises, it is a very enjoyable read. * Graham Satchwell, author of An Inspector Recalls * Neil Root's forensically researched exposé brings a balanced clarity to a murky world. With encyclopaedic reach and attention to detail, he shines a light on the shadowy networks surrounding Peter Rachman and the wider slum-landlord ecosystem, tracing miles of interconnecting threads, dubious transactions, and forgotten scandals. * Monica Weller, author of Injured Parties * Neil Root's fascinating book reveals the man behind the myth - and what an extraordinary man Peter Rachman turns out to be. Brilliantly researched, Slumlord sheds new light on the ambiguous figure who played such a part in the transformation of post-war London. * John L. Williams, author of Michael X: A Life in Black & White * The research is impeccable, the writing crisp. A book for all those interested in a world that has almost but sadly not quite gone. * Paul Donnelley, author of The Notorious Guide to Britain * With commendably clear-sight, Neil Root untangles the complex web spun by the enigmatic Peter Rachman. Root brings to light a labyrinthine world that was protected from on high as well by underworld connections, revealing how police, councillors, Tory MPs and newspapers hamstrung by libel laws were as guilty in their failures to protect the tenants of West London then as they were during the Grenfell Tower outrage 65 years later. * Cathi Unsworth, author of Bad Penny Blues * A compelling and racy account of greed and corruption in post-war London, where spivs and grifters thrived from preying on the housing market, dominated by one man: the racketeer Peter Rachman. * Peter Gillman, author of Murder in Cairo * More than 60 years after Peter Rachman's death, Neil Root has produced the definitive biography of the man whose name is synonymous with slum landlordism. Root uncovers new material, draws on deep archive research, as well as interviews with surviving protagonists, to carefully parse the myths that continue to swirl around Rachman from the complex reality. The result is a meticulous and invaluable record of the world Rachman inhabited. Slumlord sits rightfully alongside the classics from the period, Ruth Glass's London's Newcomers - The West Indian Migrants, and Shirley Green's 1979 Rachman biography. * Mark Olden, author of Murder in Notting Hill *

Author Information

Neil Root is the author of seven non-fiction books and has twice been longlisted for CWA Gold Dagger Award. He has also written for a variety of outlets including BBC News Magazine, Press Gazette, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

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