Author Description

Built between 1921 and 1934, the London County Council's Becontree Estate was the largest public housing scheme ever undertaken in Britain, and, at the time of its planning, in the world. Using interviews with surviving tenants from the inter-year period, Dr Olechnowicz discusses the early years of the estate, looking in detail at the philosophy behind its construction and management, and showing how it eventually came to be denigrated as a social concentration camp.