London: The Biography

Of the general studies I can recommend The Future of London’s Past by M. Biddle and D. Hudson (London, 1977); The Stones of London by J.V. Elsden and J.A. Howe (London, 1923); The Soul of London by F.M. Ford (London, 1905); Street Names of the City of London by E. Ekwall (Oxford, 1954); The Lost Language of London by H. Bayley (London, 1935); London in Song by W. Whitten (London, 1898); London Echoing and The London Perambulator, both by James Bone (London, 1948 and 1931); Historians of London by S. Rubinstein (London, 1968); Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions by C. Mackay (London, 1841); The Synfulle Citie by E.J. Burford (London, 1990); London Mystery and Mythology by W. Kent (London, 1952). Note that these books are in no particular order, chronological or thematic, and in that sense they act as an image of the city itself where stray impressions leave their mark. In turn we have The Streets of London Through The Centuries by T. Burke (London, 1940); They Saw it Happen edited in four volumes by W.O. Hassall, C.R.N. Routh, T. Charles-Edwards, B. Richardson and A. Briggs (Oxford, 1956-1960); The Ghosts of London by J.A. Brooks (Norwich, 1982); Characters of Bygone London by W. Stewart (London, 1960); The Quack Doctors of Old London by C.J. Thompson (London, 1928); London As It Might Have Been by F. Barker and R. Hyde (London, 1982); Queer Things About London by C. Harper (London, 1923). The Geology of London and South-East England by G.M. Davies (London, 1939) is matched by London Illustrated Geological Walks by E. Robinson (Edinburgh, 1985); The Curiosities of London by J. Timbs (London, 1855) can similarly be placed beside Literary and Historical Memorials of London by J.H. Jesse (London, 1847), London Rediscoveries by W.G. Bell (London, 1929), and Old Customs and Ceremonies of London by M. Brentnall (London, 1975).

The Londoner’s Almanac by R. Ash (London, 1985) contains peculiar and sometimes interesting facts such as “Twenty Slang Words Used by London Taxi-Drivers”; W. Kent’s London in The News Through Three Centuries (London, 1954) contains astonishing stories of hauntings, body-snatchings and deaths by lightning. The Aquarian Guide to Legendary London edited by J.M. Matthews and C. Potter (Wellingborough, 1990) is indispensable reading for those who are interested in the occluded aspects of the city’s history, while London Bodies by A. Werner (London, 1998) is a fascinating exercise in comparative physiology. The Building of London by J. Schofield (London, 1984) offers many valuable perceptions into the fabric and texture of the developing city while The City of London by C.H. Holden and W.G. Holford (London, 1947) is concerned with the task of reconstruction after the Second World War. Lost London by H. Hobhouse (London, 1971) is necessary if poignant reading on all that has been destroyed or vandalised by generations of London’s builders, and it is complemented by G. Stamp’s The Changing Metropolis (London, 1984) which contains many fascinating photographs of the vanished or forgotten city. Studies in London History edited by A.E.J. Hollaender and W. Kellaway (London, 1969) is a collection of essays which has the virtue of appealing to every literate Londoner, with articles ranging from the real Richard Whittington to the pre-Norman London Bridge. Invaluable, too, is London in Paint edited by M. Gallinou and J. Hayes (London, 1996) which moves from the earliest oil painting of London to the latest emanation of what might loosely be termed “The School of London.” In a similar spirit The Image of London: Views by Travellers and Emigrés 1550-1920 edited by M. Warner (London, 1987) collects the compositions of, among others, Whistler, Monet and Canaletto to provide a pictorial synopsis of the city. London on Film by C. Sorensen (London, 1996) performs a similar feat with the cinema. Curious London by R. Cross (London, 1966) is filled with, well, curiosities; and with a sigh we may finish this intricate selection with Where London Sleeps by W.G. Bell (London, 1926).