London: A History - Hardcover

At £25, Francis Sheppard's history of Lodon must be the bargian of the millennium. Handsomely produced and copiously illustrated, it covers the entire known period of London's history from the Londinium of Roan times to the Greater South East of today. (Patricia L. Garside, Urban History, 03/2000)

Sheppard ... provides a broad and very readable history ... He is especially strong on Londons physical development ... such comprehensive histories of Britains leading city are relatively rare and ... to be welcomed, as a valuable and enlightening contribution. (Stephen Porter, London Journal 25, 1, 2000.)

based on extensive research and ... littered with accurate endnotes./ ... should ... be on the shelf of any lover of London./ Simon Thurley, Director of Museum of London, THES, 05/03/99.

There is a never-neglected theme to this book of comparing and contrasting the condition and growth of London to that of foreign cities. (Ruth Rendell, Sunday Times)

Sheppard is a rather grand historian, but fascinating. (Illtyd Harrington, Camden New Journal)

This is a solid, well researched and well written survey of London's history and influence./ Contemporary Review, 04/99

... episodes which Sheppard handles with the evenness, lucidity and pace that are the hallmarks of a lifetime's writing about the capital, and destine 'London: A History' to be the exemplary politico-economic narrative of its subject for decades to come./ Andrew Saint, LRB, 04/02/99

a bold book. Peter Ackroyd/The Times/3/12/98

London has for most of 2,000 years been the hub of the political, economic, and cultural life of Britain. No other world city has held such a dominant national position for so long. This new study, by the doyen of London historians, describes London's diverse past, from its origins as a Roman settlement at the first bridging of the Thames to the world-class metropolis it is today. It provides a vivid account of a city which was the `deere sweete' place which Chaucer loved more than any other city on earth, which was for Dickens his `magic lantern', and to Keats `a great sea', howling for more wrecks. It is also a story of much contrast and remarkable resilience; through great fires and pestilence, civil war, and the Blitz, London has rebuilt and reinvented itself for each generation.