"He wrote 'The People of the Abyss,' a story of the London slums. It was on the occasion of his first visit to Europe. He did not even go to see his publishers. He dropped out of sight and lost himself in the abyss of human misery, and the result was the strongest indictment against modern society written in our time, a "Les Miserables" in sociological form. To do this he compelled himself to live as a slum dweller. He cut himself off from his money and walked the streets seeking employment, starving and homeless." Source: Anna Strunsky Walling's Memoirs
