Step inside Bloomsbury Publishing as we go back to the 1980s and London’s once sleazy yet exhilarating district of bars, cafes and clubs as Christopher Howse recaptures the lost Soho he once knew as home, its cellar cafés and butchers' shops, its villains and its generosity.

Part of our ongoing partnership with the London Library, we're thrilled to present Christopher in conversation with journalist Michael Goldfarb, who spent many unprofitable hours loafing at the French House and the Coach after he moved from New York to London in the 1980s, for a glorious ride around the streets we all think we know so well. Christopher's brand-new memoir Soho in the Eighties forms a fascinating sequel to Daniel Farson's Soho in the Fifties.

To all fans of the Soho scene, then and now, you're invited to this unique trip down memory lane, by way of scintillating conversation, for Londoners everywhere.

“In Soho in the Eighties Howse chronicles a doomed world of "poets, painters, retired prostitutes, actors, criminals, musicians and general layabouts"” – The Times

“A wonderfully beady and evocative picture of a bohemian society – drunk and dissolute, irresponsible, individualistic, undeceived” – Mail on Sunday

Date: Thursday, April 11th
Timing: Doors open and drinks from 6:30pm to 7pm. Our guests in conversation from 7pm, followed by Q&A and book signing. Event ends at 8:30pm
Venue: Bloomsbury Publishing, 50 Bedford Square, WC1B 3DP
Nearest station: Tottenham Court Road
Tickets: £20 for adults / £15 concessions and London Library members. Every ticket includes a copy of Soho in the Eighties by Christopher Howse (worth £20)

This event is hosted by Bloomsbury Institute, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing. Please read our Event Terms and Conditions carefully as by buying a ticket to this event, you confirm that you accept these terms and condition and that you agree to comply with them, alongside the Eventbrite terms and conditions.

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Christopher Howse is a writer and assistant editor at the Daily Telegraph, where he spent some years editing the obituaries page. He is a regular contributor to The Spectator and his books include The Train in Spain, Sacred Mysteries and A Pilgrim in Spain.

Michael Goldfarb is a journalist, broadcaster. He has covered conflict and conflict resolution and other stuff on five continents and from 25 countries. His journalism has won the highest honours on both sides of the Atlantic. He is the author of two books Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace: Surviving Under Saddam, Dying in the New Iraq, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; and, Emancipation: How Liberating Europe's Jews From the Ghetto Led To Revolution and Renaissance. Today he is known for his Radio 3 Essays and Radio 4 documentaries and his podcast: FRDH, First Rough Draft of History.

The London Library, founded in 1841, is one of the world’s leading literary institutions. Its open access shelves hold more than one million books and periodicals in over 50 languages and the collection includes works from the 16th century to the latest publications. With its atmospheric labyrinth of bookstacks, hidden corners and beautiful working spaces, it is a unique literary oasis in the heart of London and a home for anyone who loves the written word. Find out more at https://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/

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Soho in the Eighties by Christopher Howse

In the 1980s Daniel Farson published Soho in the Fifties. This memoir is a sequel from the Eighties, a decade that saw the brilliant flowering of a daily tragi-comedy enacted in pubs like the Coach and Horses or the French and in drinking clubs like the Colony Room. These were places of constant conversation and regular rows fuelled by alcohol. The cast was more improbable than any soap opera. Some were widely known – Jeffrey Bernard, Francis Bacon, Tom Baker or John Hurt. Just as important were the character actors: the Village Postmistress, the Red Baron, Granny Smith. The bite came from the underlying tragedy: lost spouses, lost jobs, pennilessness, homelessness and death. Christopher Howse recaptures the lost Soho he once knew as home, its cellar cafés and butchers' shops, its villains and its generosity. While it lasted, time in those smoky rooms always seemed to be half past ten, not long to closing time. As the author relates, he never laughed so much as he did in Soho in the Eighties.