ABOUT THIS BOOK

A thrilling account of the 1911 Siege of Sidney Street—when a young Winston Churchill allowed two immigrant revolutionaries to burn to death in London’s East End.

On January 3, 1911, police discovered Latvian revolutionaries on the lam in London’s East End. A six-hour gunfight ensued until fire consumed the building where the radicals had taken refuge. When a not-yet-prime-minister Winston Churchill arrived at the scene, he ordered officials to let the fire run its course. At least two people burned to death in the blaze, but the Latvian ringleader, Peter the Painter, remained at large. Known as the Siege of Sidney Street, the event was a nationwide sensation and ignited fierce debates about immigration, extremism, and law enforcement. This book unravels the full story of the siege, the Latvian expatriates, and London’s vibrant anarchist movement in the early twentieth century.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Andrew Whitehead is a historian and lecturer with over thirty years of experience in public broadcasting, including as editor of the BBC World Service. His publications include Curious Crouch End.

REVIEWS

"A fascinating, forgotten story told in rich, evocative detail. A Devilish Kind of Courage provides a vivid portrayal of the East End of London in the early years of the twentieth century, and of the tumultuous rise and fall of the anarchist movement in Britain."

— Sam Miller, author of 'Migrants: The Story of Us All'

"Whitehead has written a vivid and authoritative account of a stand-out event in the always turbulent history of London's East End. A Devilish Kind of Courage is an accomplished piece of historical research and a story wonderfully well told – combing police archives, trial records, Yiddish language anarchist papers and even the memoirs of a notorious East End criminal. It places the account of gun-toting desperadoes, émigrés from the Tsarist Russian Empire against the background of an intense debate about the large numbers of near destitute immigrants from Eastern Europe – a controversy that still resonates to this day. The book also brings to the fore the unsettling story of three women caught up in the Siege of Sidney Street and subsequent trial."

— Rachel Lichtenstein, author of 'On Brick Lane'

"A compelling history of the Siege of Sidney Street that deftly examines the event’s international dimensions and vividly brings to life the underground communities it outlawed. Andrew Whitehead’s argument that liberalism ultimately prevailed over media-fuelled public anxiety is a judicious and salutary reminder of the dangers of knee-jerk government legislation."

— Ruth Kinna, author of 'The Government of No One: The Theory and Practice of Anarchism'

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
1 The Tottenham Outrage
2 The ‘Alien Invasion’
3 The Worker’s Friend
4 Comrades and Lovers
5 Houndsditch
6 100 Sidney Street
7 ‘A Devilish Kind of Courage’
8 ‘The Cossacks of Bourgeois Journalism’
9 Acquitted
10 Nina, Luba, Rosa
11 Who Was Peter the Painter?
12 The Anarchist Aftermath
13 Legacy
Timeline
Walk: From Tottenham Police Station to the Marshes
Walk: From Houndsditch to Sidney Street
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index

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