London's buildings are dotted with commemorative plaques.Many are the famous blue plaques, indicating where a famous person was born, lived, stayed, or if a significant event took place there, or an earlier use of the site. This book is a comprehensive gazetteer of all of London's plaques.Using Derek Sumeray's classic book as a basis, this thoroughly revised new edition arranges plaques alphabetically by area, providing a text that is linked to London's geo...

Discover the fascinating history of this coastal English city from its Medieval origins to its status today as a world-renowned cultural destination.In The Making of Liverpool, Mike Fletcher tells the story of this historic city and highlights the significant changes that have made it what it is today. It all begins with King John's 1207 charter and the construction of Liverpool castle to protect this new town. Liverpool's development throughout the medieva...

A delightful and fascinating social history of Victorians at leisure, told through the letters, diaries, journals and novels of nineteenth-century men and women, from the author of the bestselling ‘The Victorian House’.Imagine a world where only one in five people owns a book, where just one in ten has a knife or a fork – a world where five people out of every six do not own a cup to hold a hot drink. That was what England was like in the early eighteenth century. Yet by the close ...

A fascinating tour of London's strangest and most intriguing locations. Ranging from architectural evidence of past incidents and stories of life beneath the city, to anecdotes of magic, mystery and murder, this is a perfect companion for the curious Londoner.It includes:A Museum of Magical Curiosities; The City's Lost Tunnels and Citadels; The Ghost of a "She-Wolf; The Bawdy House Riots; The Story of 'Jack the Stripper'; The Atmospheric Railway; The Thames Ringway Bicycle ...

Why did London Underground once employ a one-legged man to ride up and down the escalators at Earl's Court tube station? What did Hitler plan to do with Nelson's Column? Why is London's only medieval mummy a prostitute named Clarice la Claterballock? How did a beer flood in Tottenham Court Road drown nine people? Where can you see a pair of Queen Victoria's knickers?Containing chapters covering London past and present; buildings and streets; famous and unexpected Londoners; arts, li...

*The Little Book of London *is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium full of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no-one will want to be without. London's looniest laws, its most eccentric inhabitants, the realities of being royal and literally hundreds of wacky facts about the world's greatest city combine to make it required reading for visitors and locals alike.

Millions live there, millions more visit each year – but how many really know London?Find out:How New York's famous Central Park came to be modelled on a seventeenth-century London squareWhen Primrose Hill almost gained a pyramid even larger than the Great Pyramid of CheopsWhy about 640 people came to be drowned in the Thames in a single nightWhat the royal family might do to escape London if the balloon ever goes up...

Discover one of the world's most fascinating and historic cities through 30 dramatic true stories spanning the rich history of London. Author Kevin Jackson takes readers through more than 2,000 years of British history with exciting essays on topics such as London's origins, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Geoffrey Chaucer, Henry V, Shakespeare, Queen Victoria, Jack the Ripper, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, the Beatles, and more. In addition, guided walking tours of London's historic neighborhoo...

The bustling metropolis of London is home to scores of unusual and unique places and spaces. In this feast of peculiarities, author David Long guides you off the beaten path and allows you under the skin of the hidden city that is modern-day London, revealing a new side to the capital you thought you knew.

Strange laws, heroic deeds, surprising revelations, and quirky stories that have shaped the unique history of Britain’s capital.London’s long history is extraordinarily rich—and whether your interest is political, social, architectural, or historical, you’ll find a variety of topics in this alternative guide to London.Learn about:· Roman ruins· Notorious crimes· Hidden tube stations· The famous London smog· Cockney rhyming...

Did you know?In 1824 a Pendleton tollkeeper set up Britain's first true public bus service, thought to be one of the first in the world.Communism can claim to have been conceived, if not born, in Manchester as Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx used to meet in the city.Manchester has the grim distinction of being the place where the first death of the English Civil War occurred.The Little Book of Manchester is a...

Edinburgh and Glasgow enjoy a famously scratchy relationship. Resembling other intercity rivalries throughout the world, from Madrid and Barcelona, to Moscow and St. Petersburg, to Beijing and Shanghai, Scotland’s sparring metropolises just happen to be much smaller and closer together—like twin stars orbiting a common axis. Yet their size belies their world-historical importance as cultural and commercial capitals of the British Empire, and the mere forty miles between their city centers ...