Jerry White (2)

The 18th century was the time when London finally asserted itself as the greatest city in the world and then held on to that position for another 100 years at least. During this century London grew, London took on a distinct personality of its own - identifying themselves as cits - and London learned that it had muscle, both political and social. More than anything else, London grew. This meant that London in the 18th century was a wild place, ‘A Great and Monstrous Thing’, indeed.

Jerry show more White has delivered a magnificent book. There can be no one who wants to know more about London than White delivers on the page. His command of detail and proper use of contemporary sources for illustrative quotes makes this a delight to read. Arranged thematically rather than chronologically this book exposes all aspects of London life and is able to juxtapose ideas and observations that might not have been possible in a conventionally structured history.

London is both a place and the people that use that place to live or work or take their pleasures and White gives us full measure of all these. show less

‘’Only at sunset did I leave the house. There was an unwonted sweetness in the air; the long vistas of newly lit lamps made a golden glow under the dusking flush of the sky. With no purpose but to rest and breathe, I wandered for half an hour, and found myself at length where Great Portland street opens into Marylebone Road. Over the way, in the shadow of Trinity Church, was an old bookshop, well known to me: the gas-jet shining upon the stall with its rows of volumes drew me show more across.’’

London. Its literary tradition is unparalleled. Its landmarks stand witnesses to the lives of the Londoners, people from all nations and traditions calling London ‘’home’’, contributing to the unique vibe of the capital of England. In this beautiful volume, 26 writers guide us to the history of the city. From the era of the plague and the Great Fire to the 19th century, the two World Wars and our times, the past and the present of London pass before our eyes.

‘’Full moonlight drenched the city and searched it; there was not a niche left to stand in. The effect was remorseless: London looked like the moon’s capital - shallow, cratered, extinct. It was late, but not yet midnight; now the buses had stopped the polished roads and streets in this region sent for minutes together a ghostly unbroken reflection up. The soaring new flats and the crouching old shops and houses looked equally brittle under the moon, which blazed in windows that looked its way.’’

John Evelyn narrates the disaster of the Great Fire in a dramatic text. William Thackeray chronicles an execution, while Henry Mayhew guides to the life of a working girl and Charles Dickens witnesses a shady encounter taking place by the Thames. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Christmas story takes us to 221B Baker Street where Sherlock and John take part in a wild goose chase and Frederick Treves narrates the life of Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. Graham Greene and Mollie Panter- Downes write about love affairs in the era of World War II and Elizabeth Bowen’s story is a metaphor for a mythical place and passion. In a text that makes London come alive in front of our eyes, Doris Lessing writes about the importance of multiculturalism using the Underground and its stations as her vehicle.

26 stops in the life of the most important European capital (like it or not…)

‘’It is what I enjoy about London, its variety, its populations from everywhere in the world, its transitoriness - for sometimes London can give you the same feeling as when you stand to watch cloud shadows chase across a plain - exactly what they so hate?’’

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ show less

I've not read any of the author's previous books on the history of London, but on the strength of this book I'm interested. What White gives you is a portrait of a city that could truly claim to be the center of the world, but which was riven by social conflicts that never went away, even with the war. That the author never loses track of how these conflicts of class, gender and power played out is the real strength of his narrative. I will say that I thought that this book was going to be show more more about the primeval "Blitz" of Zeppelins & Gotha bombers than it was, but that is no detraction from the story that is on offer. show less

A curious mix of the interesting and the dull, the perceptive and the blatantly obvious. I feel the same way about certain other books, especially anthologies which are a mix and match of genres and approaches. Some of the pieces in this collection are "spot on" and classic examples of "Londoniana." Others had me scratching my head thinking, "well I hope that the Everyman Library didn't have to pay royalties on THAT one."

Surely there are better London anthologies than this one.