Introduction
"Piccadilly Pimp" achieved the distinction of being banned in Great Britain and all available copies were confiscated from London bookstores by the Metropolitan police upon the day of publication. The author has admitted that he engaged in the dubious profession described in detail in this frank expose of the British prostitute. There is no question that he has first-hand knowledge of the psychology and operating methods of a big city pimp.
The recruiting of the heroine as a simple working girl, and her gradual psychic conditioning to the acceptance of whoredom as a normal and desirable state is depicted in intimate and knowing detail. As the sceneby-scene seduction unfolds, we can understand how a girl can become a working prostitute without feeling the slightest qualms or compunctions about her way of life. One has the feeling that any normal, attractive young girl can be debauched by the clever artifices of the pimp or "ponce" as he is known in England.
The legions of prostitutes who patrol Piccadilly Circus in the heart of London have long been a source of embarrassment to the English. But admittedly there is little their sociologists or psychiatrists have been able to do to cope with the problem. Especially since with the coming of greater material prosperity to Great Britain, the prostitute now cruises and makes her pickups in snappy sports cars in famed Piccadilly. The more attractive and more prosperous girls rent luxurious flats and have begun to operate more or less in the manner of the American call-girl. The imitation is complete, down to special answering services catering exclusively to the girls "in the life" in London.
However, there is a difference in one respect. The "ponce" or pimp seems to be in much greater evidence in London than in New York or other metropolitan centers. This individual with his "stable of girls" is an all too prevalent fixture of London life. The reasons for his existence, his mode of operation may be better understood by the author's revelation of the vicious sexual immorality of the "Piccadilly Pimp."
Continental Classics is reprinting this copy for the first time in this country. Because of the nature of the subject matter this volume is recommended only for students in the field or mature general readers.
Allan Saunders,M.A. New York City, September 1967