"There was once a street in Bethnal Green. How I wish that street were still there... to be able to return once in a while, to stand in the street where I grew up. To look at the houses and the people who lived in them, and to bring back the memories of my boyhood." Derek Houghton gives a colourful insight into life as a real "East Ender". The author's memories give a snapshot of community characterised by contrasts. Neighbourliness and community spirit were highly valued. The war provided a sudden rupture, for both the author and his neighbourhood. The relative peace of his time as an evacuee in Oxfordshire contrasts strongly with the destruction of Bethnal Green when the bombs rained down.
