The Victorian Underworld

""A vivid tableau of debauchery and sadism"" is the way Thomas describes the newspaper and magazine coverage of Victorian prostitution, but he may as well be describing his own book. The author of biographies of Lewis Carroll and the Marquis de Sade, true crime books and mysteries surveys the seedier lives and misdeeds of 19th century England's down and out, middle class and upper crust. Though much of what Thomas covers is factually interesting--for instance, the popularity and fame of hangmen or the deviousness of a blackmailer--he gives little momentum to the reading and little sense of depth or coherence to the big picture. Early on he describes the poor's hostility toward police and law courts, and in so doing, has the tact not to overemphasize obvious parallels to today's cities. A hero of the far-casting book is aristocratic ""Walter,"" the otherwise anonymous author of My Secret Life, which chronicles his almost countless sexual liaisons. ""In scrupulous detail, Walter documents the girl's life. As self-consciously as any missionary or social investigator, though still in bed with her, he asks Kitty about being `gay,' which was the common Victorian term for being a prostitute."" Thomas convincingly shows that ""given the strength of her characterization and dialogue, she might otherwise have stepped from the pages of Bleak House or Our Mutual Friend."" The best chapters, including the one on ""The Great Bullion Robbery,"" deserve or have received books of their own; Thomas's treatment of his topic is too little, too wide. 60 illustrations. (Sept.)