So what are your favourites?

I'm a fan of books with a psychogeographicalflavour - for example Iain Sinclair's Lights out for the Territory : 9 Excursions in the Secret History of London, and London Orbital, or Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.

I'm a fan of novels set in Victorian London (either ones that are contemporary with Victorian times or historical fiction).

I must say that because you're asking me the day after I watched the DVD (and as it is one of my favourite books) I'd have to say "Tipping the Velvet".

:)

Well, High Fidelity in N.London........perhaps it could be because of Football team I support.......Or central London in 1867, when J.Fowles' describes in THE FRENCH LIEUTENANTS WOMAN

Well, High Fidelity in N.London........perhaps it could be because of Football team I support.......Or central London in 1867, when J.Fowles' describes in THE FRENCH LIEUTENANTS WOMAN

i meant FEVERPITCH, but high fidelity too.....sorry 4 post other one twice......whoops

Maureen Duffy's Capital (I can't find it in the touchstone list) was Iain Sinclair before Sinclair was. Nicholas Pevsner's series on architecture has a fantastic London volume. Philip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke trilogy is set in Victorian London is great fun, sort of From Hell for kids. My partner recommends a Neil Gaiman comic called Miracleman where people fly around Centrepoint! The London sections of I, Coriander, set during Cromwell's Protectorate, are fantastic. And Orlando and Mrs. Dalloway are paeans to Virginia Woolf's particular and beautiful experience of London.

I like About a Boy by Nick Hornby (Islington/Angel/Camden, North London)
Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue (Central London)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (Parts set in Hampstead & St. John's Wood)
And obviously Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby parts of which are set in Highbury.

Dickens, Dickens, Dickens.

London,the Biography by Peter Ackroyd gives all kinds of info about London from interesting perspectives, Little known museums in and around London, I love this town!

Just saw in Timeout Aug16-23 issue a new book out called London Noir, Capital Crime Ficton edited by Cathi Unsworth. 4 out of 6.

I forgot about my reference books on London. My favourites are Capital Punishments on London's prisons during the Victorian era, The Map of London which reprints 18th century London maps with current ones, Dickens' London by Ackroyd which has brilliant photographs, several ancient A-Zs from the 30s upwards and various 'glossy' histories with pictures.

I can't believe I forgot about Mayhew; I read a four-volume illustrated London Labour and the London Poor from a local library over a couple of weeks. Definitely on my wish list. I also have an interest in Joseph Bazalgette, Edwin Chadwick and Dr John Snow - sanitation and health is a fascinating topic. The Guildhall Library in the City is an excellent place for maps, books and other reference materials. I thoroughly recommend anyone visiting gives it a go: they let you trace maps and will provide tracing paper and pencils and also have The Times on microfiche (which I've read in its entirety for the years 1846, 1847 and 1848).

Message edited by its author, Aug 16, 2006, 4:34am.

Vis The Times. Most of the borough council libraries subscribe to the "Times Digital Archive." This is a searchable facsimile of The Times from 1785-1985. You can search it from home with your library card.

I forgot about Philip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke trilogy - I'd add Conan Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - and all the Holmes stories that followed - to quality Victorian London based fiction. I've always enjoyed reading about Holmes and Watson heading out of town to places which are now very much in town...

Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London.

The Great Stink by Clare Clark - a murder mystery set, largely, in the sewers of Victorian London. It's great on the London aspects but sadly the rest of the book is rather weak. I wouldn't care to recommend it.

Rivercassini : Just finished the great stink and have to agree. It is very good on facts and figures but is spoiled by a poor plot

I recently finished Ian McEwan's Saturday and Peter Ackroyd's The Lambs of London. Saturday was magnificent, despite some issues with the resolution, Lambs was a bit of a disappointment but I understand that he's written some real gems.

Tartalom: I'm so glad it's not just me that thinks that way about The Great Stink. It feels so much as though this is a book I really should have enjoyed - it's got all the right elements, but it just doesn't seem to work.

No Rivercassini, we are not alone!! Arse gravy of the first degree :) Have you tried The Grass Arena by John Healy? A beautiful book about a life on the streets/ parks of north london in the 1960s.

Gracie68: I just read, and enjoyed, Ackroyd's Chatterton.

Thanks, Eurydice. I was hoping for some recommendations. Part of my problem with the book was reading a review that was fraught with spoilers. I was somewhat disappointed when I got to the end and found there wasn't much more to it. My bad, really, and a good reminder of how not to review a book.

The good part was that I've got several recommendations on other Ackroyd works and it really sparked my interest in the Lambs. I am anxiously awaiting delivery of The Devil Kissed Her.

I do like Charles Lamb, and have a beautiful copy of their joint Tales from Shakespeare, which I've meant to read. A fascinating pair, really.

Have you read his (Ackroyd's) London: the Biography?

Recent favourites are: Saturday by Ian McEwan; Kept: A Victorian Mystery by D.J.Taylor; and The Lambs of London by Peter Acckroyd which I admired very much.

Eurydice-

I haven't read that, nor any other Ackroyd beyond Lambs, but I think that London: The Biography would be a great companion to Dickens' London: An Imaginitive Vision. Two of his novels, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree and The House of Dr. Dee, have been highly recommended.

I think you'll enjoy Tales from Shakespeare when you get around to it (I would love to own the edition with the Rackham illustrations).

Anything to do with Sexton Blake or Sherlock Holmes.

Am not keen on Blake`s trips to far-flung posts of the old empire, though i did enjoy The Case of the Stolen Ransom, set in France. Was OK with him going to Scotland or the Midlands. Was not too unhappy with Holmes going to the Midlands or Dartmoor, though Hound of the Baskervilles is clearly inferior to the other stories.

All of Russell Hoban's novels take you into modern London. . . and introduce you to people you might have met. Esta1923

One of my favourites is Iris Murdoch's Under the Net, I remember reading it when I lived on Hammersmith Road, and the action of the novel was just outside my window . . . There's a lot of Wartime London in Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow and of course 80's London in The Line of Beauty
I almost forgot, Diary of a Nobody, the funniest introduction to Victorian London middle-class mores

Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2006, 4:33am.

Hera,

You`re not the only who forgot to list Mayhew ! How bad is that !

There`s a great Folio Society edition London Crooks and Characters - brilliant cover design, though could have had better internal illustrations.

Gracie68: It was the fact that this was a copy that reproduced Rackham's illustrations which sold me. :) Though I'd wanted Tales from Shakespeare before.

It was used, and, for me, a Eureka! find. :)

Thanks for the other recommendations.

Has anyone here read Virginia Woolf's The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life? It's newly (re?)printed. I've wanted it very much, and this seems the place to ask.

There was a copy for sale on EBay UK earlier today - sellers user name was hobbygonemad. Auction ending soon though - but no bidders when I looked

There was a copy for sale on EBay UK earlier today - sellers user name was hobbygonemad. Auction ending soon though - but no bidders when I looked

Which book did you mean, nickhoonaloon? The London Scene is only about $11 in a new copy from Amazon - so with shipping from the UK, that one wouldn't come out any better. But I imagine one could benefit a lot on an older copy of the Rackham-illustrated Tales from Shakespeare. Mine was a newish facsimile as well as being used, which helped. I'm a little tired to go look for it; I apologize.

Rivercassini: "The Great Stink by Clare Clark"

I found a novel with the same, let's say, setting while on holiday in the UK: Sweet Thames by Matthew Kneale. Haven't read it yet. The introduction of sewers and waste-water treatment in London seem an unlikely topic for an interesting novel, but what I saw when scanning the book piqued my interest enough to buy it and pay for postage back home!

Bleak House

To add to that point about Dickens...

London, the Biography and The trial of Elizabeth Cree by Peter Ackroyd are both excellent, even though I prefer the first of the two.
I have to agree with Rivercassini and tartalom, The great stink was disappointing.
Other authors whose descriptions of London I like are (not in order of preference): Rebecca West, Virginia Woolf, Arthur Conan Doyle, Anne Perry (I particularly enjoy books that take place in Victorian London) and, of course, the great Charles Dickens!!!!

GirlFromIpanema - I hope you enjoy Sweet Thames. It was a fun read and certainly helped to bring that era of London alive. If you did like it, I would also highly recommend English Passengers also by Matthew Kneale. I think it's a much stronger book as far as writing / plot go. It doesn't fit this London theme (since it's about leaving england - age of exploration / colonialism / etc.), but it's an excellent book.

As for another book with an interesting perspecive on London, I would recommend Small Island by Andrea Levy (sorry - the touchstone seems to only be pulling up a book club discussion guide). It's an interesting study of race and gender relations, colonialism, and WWII England, and follows four main characters (two British and two Jamaican) as they deal with the war itself and the post-war era.

Message edited by its author, Sep 23, 2006, 4:34pm.

Small Island works - odd that it wasn't working before! Great book, albeit a bit flawed. Brick Lane and White Teeth are interesting if you enjoy that, if a bit different. The Buddha of Suburbia is a London novel too, despite the suburban slant.

People think Arnold Bennett only set his novels in the Potteries. Wrong. Do try his Riceyman Steps set in 1920s Clerkenwell (well before it was trendy). A little masterpiece.

I've just thought of some more: how about Angel Pavement by J B Priestley, Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith and even Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. Some golden oldies there!

Or The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett, believed to be The Savoy Hotel in the Strand by another name; I would check it for other details but it's AWOL.

I don`t actually live in London (though I did for 9 months whilst working away from home in younger days).

The Priestley recommendation is a good one - I was beginning to think no-one else read him any more.

Anyway has anyone read a book, I think it`s called The Streets of East London by William Fishman ?

Yes, nickhoonaloon, on the shelf behind me is that William Fishmans' book with photos by Nicholas Breach. Forgot to mention it. Not London theme (sorry), but did you ever read Good Companions by Priestley?.

Yes, but a long, long time ago.

I`ve also read Angel Pavement. There are so many good ones by him. I think he is taken for granted and, as you know now, have just started new LT group for Priestley, so we can discuss him to our heart`s content and let these nice people discuss London some more.

On that subject, Henry Mayhew is always worth a read.

hazelk

Going back to fishman, have you read any of his others ? I think one`s called Radical something-or other, and another`s called 1885. Don`t know if there are any others.

nickhoonaloon

I think there's East End Jewish Radicals 1875-1914 and a more recent East End 1888. I'll try & get second-hand.

hazelk,

I forgot to ask - did you enjoy the Fishman book you do have ?

Here's an amazing book in the tradition of Mayhew: 'London Shadows : a Glance at the "Homes" of the Thousands' by George Godwin. Published by Routledge in 1854 it is a campaigning book highlighting the terrible living conditions working class Londoners. Beautiful illustrations of such delights as the Fleet Ditch and tenement housing built over cesspools.
Ragged London in 1861 by John Hollingshead is another excellent book in the same tradition. 1860 was a notably cold winter when temperatures stayed sub-zero for a month. Hollingshead's newspaper, The Morning Post, commissioned this investigative report into the living conditions and survival techniques of the working poor. The result was this beautiful, angry book.

nickhoonaloon

Yes, I did. Probably not quite objective though: having been born in the East End gave it an edge before I turned a page!!

Birdman by Mo Hayder set in south London and Mark Timlin also with south London settings in his Sharman crime books.

Surprised there's been no mention of Martin Amis's London Fields. I'm looking forward to getting my grubby hands on Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map.

There's also no mention of Necropolis: London and Its Dead which is a fascinating history of how London has dealt with death and the disposal of the dead over the centuries. Makes for fascinating reading.

Also the Roy Porter book London, a Social History gives a glimpse into the socio-economic aspects of living in London.

Though totally ignorant about graphic fiction, I can't recommend Alan Moore's original V for Vendetta enough. In which vein, can anyone recommend overlooked books featuring dystopic/utopian Londons? I can think 1984, Brave New World, and for Utopia there's Morris's News from Nowhere... anyone know of anything less well known?

...And while I'm here, a shameless plug: Smoke: a London Peculiar, featuring all sorts of london-related memoirs, histories, investigations, pretty pictures and general londonalia, is available - last I looked - in Foyles, Borders and various other places, and is really not at all bad. www.smokelondon.co.uk

#52: glad you plugged - sounds just up my street. I'll ask daughter to get it for me 'cos 'exiled' to south Yorkshire currently.

Would some of J G Ballard's output fit the bill re dystopian London? Check it out.

I have quite a collection of London History books now- Liza Picard's books are really very good- my favourite being "Elizabeth's London"- but there are "Victorian London", and "Dr. Johnson's London", too. I, too, like Roy Porter's Biography and would also recommend "The Dreadful Judgement" by Neil Hanson (on the great fire). Dickens' "Scenes of London Life" is another good one- as are his Boz works. I have so many others but those are the ones that stand out to me!

Fiction-wise, Jacqueline Winspear's "Maisie Dobbs" series is really good- Maisie is a nurse turned psychological detective recently returned from the Great War.

Anne Perry's novels are wonderful, too- Victorian mysteries. I particularly like the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt series but the William Monk series really gets into the dark recesses of London.

I also have to plug a friend's new book! "The Black Tattoo" by Sam Enthoven which is set in London. Brilliant Book! The very first scene is set very close by to where we used to work on Charing Cross Road- I got goosebumps when I read it!

So much good stuff out there on London- it's such a wonderful city! My favourite!

#65:Nenner: I have the same tastes as you, so you might want to try the 2007 publsihed book London in the Nineteenth Century by Jerry White. It had excellent reviews so have just received it in the post from Amazon. Let's see.

Hazelk, thanks for the suggestion!!
:-))

Thanks, hazelk- I'll take a look at it!

Have you seen the The City of London Cook Book by Peter Gladwin? It is full of lovely quirky facts about London food and dining plus great recipes by Peter Gladwin and a slew of celebrities including Gordon Ramsey, Rick Stein, Tony Blair and Ken Livingstone.

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2007, 10:25am.

Geoff Nicholson's Bleeding London is set in London, where the main character attempst to walk the entire A-Z.

I sent my sis a copy of The seven days of Peter Crumb by Johnny Glynn* after reading a review which banged on about its Hackney setting- which is where she lives

*Touchstones not working

Other novels laid in London:

Tracy Chevalier: Burning Bright (about William Blake) and Falling Angels - supposedly Edwardian, but I didn't read it.

Dorothy l. Sayers: Unnatural Death (Lord Peter Whimsey detective story).

Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs and Birds of a Feather, both not read by me (but by my wife).

Susan Howatch: The Wonder Worker. Anglican novel, and laid in the city.

Just arrived in the post Thames:Sacred River by Peter Ackroyd. When finished it will sit alongside his tremendous London:The Biography.

Jack Maggs by Peter Carey, a nice plot, in Victorian London.

London in the Age of Chaucer by A. R. Myers
London in Dickens' Day by Jacob Korg
London 1808-1870: The Infernal Wen by Francis Sheppard

Esta1923

Hmm, no one has mentioned The Crimson Petal and the White yet?

Here are a few more--some of which move to other locations as well.

Minaret by Leila Abulela
Imposture by Bernard Markovitz
The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox
The Linnet Bird by Linda Holeman
Lit Life by Kurt Wenzel
City of the Mind by Penelope Lively
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
Vindication by Frances Sherwood
The Black Album by Hanif Kureishi
Life Mask by Emma Donaghue
The Master by Colm Toibin

And of course, there are all those historical novels that take place primarily in the London court.

I'm reading Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips, also set in London. It puts a whole new take on Angel Tube Station.

#67: I just heard of this book recently - it sounded funny, hopefully it is! Wasn't the Angel Tube Station used in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere also?

Britannia Mews by Margery Sharp has a cast whose lives play out against changes wrought in this neighborhood from 1865 to the end of WW2. It is a free-flowing narrative with believable characters whose interactions weave an absorbing story. Esta1923

I read Britannia Mews not long ago and really enjoyed it, Esta1923.

The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street by Charles Nicholl paints a vivid picture of life in that corner of the city in Jacobean times. I'm racing through it.

71> I'm listening to the same book on audio. Fascinating, but I'm finding a lot of redundancy.

72>Yes, take your point, but perhaps I'm a London/Shakespeare nerd so less critical of a bit of redundancy in that context than I would be in a book about a first dynasty Chinese emperor.

73> Well, English Renaissance Drama is my area of expertise, so perhaps that's why I found a lot of it redundant.

Have you read Nicholls's book on Marlowe? A much more fascinating read, I think.

74> Yes, next on my list as a matter of fact and look forward to it. Years ago I read A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess and found that an interesting read.

There is All Hallows' Eve by Charles Williams set in London and written during the WWII period. A supernatural thriller with love and evil intertwined. Williams was one of the Inklings.

Lit Life by Kurt Wenzel.

74> I did get the Nicholl's book but got rather bogged down with it: in fact, my problem was the one you had with his The Lodger:Shakespeare in Silver Street i.e. redundant information. For the first few chapters I was totally immersed but my interest then tailed off, especially with the detailed careers of erstwhile Cambridge men.

A Journal of the Plague Year - fictional account of the 1667 plague in London, but based on actual records that do not exist any more.

The Fields Beneath - a history of the Kentish Town area (where I grew up). Gillian Tindall has a few other London-based books.

Love both books.

Mother London by Michael Moorcock Absolutely brilliant view of London from the blitz through to the present day, via the Notting Hill riots and sundry other events. Lovely book. Also King of the City by Moorcock, though I haven't read that yet.

Am adding half of the books mentioned here to my wishlist!

Message edited by its author, May 1, 2009, 8:52am.

One that's quite fun is Tim Moore's Do Not Pass Go, which visits all the locations on the London Monopoly board in a light hearted Bill Bryson style.

Some of the best London based fiction currently being produced is by Will Self. He paints the city in a grotesque, almost cartoon-ish way sometimes, but he does capture the flavour of it in, for example "the meaty breath of the Tube". Try How The Dead Live or some of his short stories. He's a taste worth acquiring IMO.

I've got London. A history in photograps by Ian Harrison, and I vaguely think it has something to do with The Times (but the book is a thousand miles away right now). Another factual book is the london companion by Jo Swinnerton.

As for fiction, I can think of Star of the sea by Joseph O'Connor (Sinead O'Connor's brother, if someone's interested), which is a story related to the Irish famine, but parts of it are set in the East End of London as well.

Thanks for the recommendations, Grammath. I've made note of both those authors to look for. I read part of Tim Moore's The Grand Tour years ago but had forgotten all about how funny he is.

The Child in Time and Enduring Love, both by Ian McEwan, are set in London

There is Sovay and I, Coriander and The Red Necklace. All of which are very good. Sovay and Red Necklace are set during the french revolution.