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London: A Short History

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'Engaging ... As each era superimposes itself on the ones before, he conjures up the vanished human history, hidden like the rivers flowing beneath, that is so much part of London's atmosphere' IRISH TIMES

'Tantalisingly excellent' ISLINGTON TRIBUNE

From Chaucer to Churchill, from Pepys to Dickens - the great figures from London's past all make their appearance in A. N. Wilson's affectionate and passionate account of one of the world's greatest cities.

Dramatic events are here too - from the Great Fire to the Blitz, from the Peasants' Revolt to Mosley's fascist rallies. But he also looks at the physical transformations of the city: the elegant squares and pleasure gardens of the 18th century; the prodigious expansion of the 19th century and the Railway Age. He moves through the First World War and the 'Big Bang' of the 1980s to celebrate the cosmopolitan nature of modern London while deploring the follies of recent urban planning.

More books by A N Wilson

Praise for London: A Short History

  • What shines through is Wilson's love for the city and his anguish at what he sees as the missed opportunity of the post-war period - Mail on Sunday

  • Wilson talks with passion and authority about architecture's effect on the populace - Independent on Sunday

  • It's manageable, fascinating and impressively wide-ranging for its size, and doesn't skimp on anecdote - Living History

A N Wilson

Andrew Norman Wilson was born in Staffordshire in 1950 and educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. His biographies include the lives of Sir Walter Scott (John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), Tolstoy (Whitbread Award for Biography), C. S. Lewis, Hilaire Belloc and Jesus. His bestselling and highly acclaimed portrait of an age, THE VICTORIANS, was published in 2002. He is also a celebrated novelist and the author of a short history of London. For many years he has lived in north London.

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