This exciting collection on a new movement in urban archaeology investigates the historical archaeology of urban slums. The "stuff" that is dug up--broken dinner plates, nails and plaster samples--will not quickly find its way into museum collections. But, properly interpreted, it yields evidence of lives and communities that have left little in the way of written records. Twelve case studies define a new field, which will attract the attention of a range of students and scholars outside archaeology, in particular, historical sociologists and historians.

More than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas, and a billion of these urban dwellers reside in neighborhoods of entrenched disadvantage--neighborhoods that are characterized as slums. Slums are often seen as a debilitating and even subversive presence within society. In reality, though, it is public policies that are often at fault, not the people who live in these neighborhoods.

In this comprehensive global history, Alan Mayne explores the evolution and meaning of the word "slum," from its origins in London in the early nineteenth century to its use as a slur against...