Bruisers, Boozers, and Bear Tamers: THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR will be published by Duckworth in February 2027

My first book, which explores the ‘dying days’ of bareknuckle boxing and the story of a rapidly changing London through biographies of Hezekiah Moscow and seven other 1880s boxers, will be published by Duckworth in February 2027 (TBC).

THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is a hardback about hard men in hard times, a group biography of pugilists from different parts of the world who lived and fought – within the boxing ring and out of it – in 1880s London.

Through each man’s story, THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR looks at subjects and themes that include the law, migration, mental and physical healthcare, journalism and entertainment, showing how rapidly society changed over the course of the Late-Victorian period.

It is a book about prize-fighters, policemen, press men (and a puma), which uses a narrative approach to chart the fall in popularity or prevalence of bareknuckle boxing over the 1880s and explain the reasons for this decline.

Hezekiah ‘Ching Hook’ Moscow and Alexander ‘Alec’ Hayes Munroe are the stars of the show.

You will also meet (or be reintroduced to, if you’ve been reading my blogs for six years) Jack Wannop, Alf ‘The Greatest Showman’ Ball, Jem Haines, Jack Davenport, Henry ‘Sugar’ Goodson, the champion Jem Smith, and an array of wives, children, and associated characters.

Each man has a unique story to tell which reveals something about the past, how we changed, and how the city and the world changed. Without ramming it home too explicitly, you will also find an awful lot in these stories about how we, and the city, and the world, have not changed at all.

Expect a lot of random tangents, a couple of murders, several fires, and a decent handful of animal abuse. We spend a lot of time in East and South East London but take a diversion to Soho too, and Bruges, Paris, Chicago and the mean streets of Nottingham and Watford.

THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR started out in early 2019 as this blog, which I set up to present research on Jack Wannop, Cumbrian carpenter turned South London wrestler and boxer (the subject of my second MA dissertation). I swiftly became distracted by Hezekiah Moscow, a Caribbean-born bear and wolf tamer, boxer and music hall artist who was based in London from 1882-1892, before disappearing on his wife, child, and fellow pugilists without so much as a goodbye. 

I published my first blogs on Moscow in the spring of 2019, worked with the National Archives to develop learning resources based on that research shortly afterward, and in 2022 my research was licensed for use by the production companies behind A Thousand Blows. This book was supposed to have been written years ago. One thing led to another. I had a baby. The TV show happened. Life works in weird ways and in wrong orders sometimes, but the main thing is: we get where we’re going eventually. You just sometimes have to cut your nightly sleeping hours in half and spend a lot of time in an unheated attic.

My working title (subject to change, as is everything at this stage!) is THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR – Hezekiah Moscow and The Fight for Life in Late-Victorian London.

The story of Moscow, and to some extent his friend Munroe, has captured the public imagination and it is only right and fair and sensible that they get a little bit of extra wordcount now. 

Please keep an eye on the website and Instagram account of Duckworth Books for a proper announcement and cover reveal next year, which of course I’ll be yelling about on my own channels too.

This book is in no way affiliated with A Thousand Blows and not endorsed by Disney.

But speaking of which, A Thousand Blows series II (on which I acted as historical consultant) will be streamed by Disney+/Hulu from 9 January 2026. Here’s the teaser trailer!

I am also currently working on a chapter for a forthcoming collection of international essays on women’s wrestling, AMAZONS OF THE ARENA, edited by researchers at the University of Ulster and University of Texas. More information on that to come next year too.

My enormous thanks to all regular website readers and social media followers, and to those established writers and friends who have gone out of their way to help me make connections, given advice or guidance, facilitated some brilliant research breakthroughs, or offered a kind word (or ten years’ worth of kind words) of encouragement – especially my agent Eli Keren at Curious Minds and brilliant Editor Hannah MacDonald, Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, Professor David Olusoga, Dr Ben Swift, Professor Matthew Cobb and Tess Gardener. I have many more people to thank later too. In print! Especially my boyfriend’s mother. I appreciate you all.