On Brick Laneis a journey into the heart of the East End, an excavation of past, memory, place and people. By looking at a single street, Rachel Lichtenstein teases out the story of one of London's most vibrant and dynamic communities. It is a story of immigration - of Huguenots, Jews, Bangladeshis; of anarchists and fascists; of abandoned synagogues, teeming mosques and incongruent Hawksmoor churches; of gangsters and artists; shopkeepers and street life; the beating heart of a never-still, always-vocal people. With Lichtenstein's skilful guidance, it becomes a trip through a world that is at once recognizable, but also wonderfully stange.