The People of the Abyss (1903) is a book by Jack London about existence in the East End of London in 1902. He composed this direct record by living in the East End (counting the Whitechapel District) for a very long time, some of the time remaining in workhouses or dozing in the city. The circumstances he encountered and expounded on were equivalent to those persevered by an expected 500,000 of the contemporary London poor.