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The slums of Victorian London have provided the setting for countless tales of murder, intrigue, and dissipation, an urban landscape where Sherlock Holmes and mythologies of Jack the Ripper have had a field day. Donald Lewis’ compelling book documents a person who, through desperately difficult work, sought not sensationalism but salvation. Joseph Oppenheimer, a converted German Jew, left a diary from his work with the London City Mission that is here quoted at illuminating length and also used for an informative account of Christian outreach to London’s poor in the years shortly before William Booth’s more famous mission launched the Salvation Army. Expert use of the diary and expert provision of historical context makes this a testimony to persistent Christian dedication and also the transforming power of the Gospel. Oppenheimer himself grew discouraged about the lack of results from his patient visiting, counseling, and witnessing, but from his historical distance what he accomplished shines like a beacon of hope. –Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History (Emeritus), University of Notre Dame
Donald Lewis, the scholar who knows more than anybody else about the London City Mission in the nineteenth century, has edited a journal kept by one of its agents, a German-Jewish convert named Joseph Oppenheimer, during 1861-1862. The full transcription records Oppenheimer’s ministry among the very poor of the British capital, and eight chapters analyze aspects of his efforts in pioneer evangelism. Here is a source that vividly illuminates the work of Victorian Evangelicals in the growing cities of the age. –Professor David W. Bebbington, University of Stirling, Scotland
I love the fact that Joseph Opennheimer’s diary has not [till now] seen the light of day and that it now comes with a commentary. This really opens it up to use by undergraduates. –Professor David Green, Department of Geography, King’s College, London
