Half A Million Tramps

William Arthur‘Bill’ Gape, (1900-1966) went on the tramp after running away from home. He would go on to agitate for their rights, being nicknamed ‘The Tramps Q.C.’ His book Half a Million Tramps was published in 1936. Barry Pateman reviewed it in 2020.[1] ‘The casual use of words such as “funkum”, “jake” and “skilly” signal that we are entering a closed world rich with its own language and culture with a complexity that is still disturbing and challenging eighty years or so after it was written. […] In his world, Gape suggests, organized charity can prove to be a cruel and mean thing that suits the power of the giver more than the rights of the receiver.’

We’d like to put a scanned copy of Half a Million Tramps online for everyone to read freely. Are you a descendent of his? Can we have your permission to do so? Write to info[at]katesharpleylibrary.net 

Note 

1, ‘W. A. Gape Half A Million Tramps London: George Routledge and Sons Ltd, 1936 [Review]’ in KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 100-101, January 2020 [Double issue] https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/stqmjv