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London is a fascinating city, and there have been thousands of books written with it as the setting, but what about the photographic, historical and humorous side of the city? Here are just a few non-fiction books to inspire you to visit London and explore it just a little bit deeper.
Non-Fiction Books to Inspire You to Visit London
Pretty City London
Go beyond London’s famous landmarks and discover the hidden gems. From secluded mews and undiscovered cafes to flower markets and tree-lined streets, prettycitylondon champions the quiet, gentle moments that allow you to escape in a huge capital city like London.
If you know where to look, you will find that traditional shopfronts, vintage transport, artisan bakeries, whimsical florists and timeless bookstores are but a hop, skip and a jump from the centre, and some right in the middle.
Full of the unexplored and less-appreciated areas of London, this stunning guide also includes tips on how to plan and photograph your own #prettycitylondon experience, whether on foot or dreaming from afar.
Unseen London
From Tower Bridge to Battersea Power Station, Big Ben to the Old Bailey, embark on a thrilling tour of the hidden interiors of some of London’s most iconic buildings. Celebrated photographer Peter Dazeley takes you deep into the boiler room of the city’s infrastructure, into the changing rooms of our greatest temples of sport, into the heart of the Establishment, and behind the scenes at the most opulent buildings in the Square Mile.
Photographs of these extraordinary buildings – some derelict, but many still working – are accompanied by the story of how each of these places was created, how they are used, and what they reveal about the currents of power flowing through the city.
See a glimpse of London behind closed doors with this unique guide to the city’s buildings, revised and updated for 2017 to include the royal palaces of Hampton Court, the Tower of London and the Inigo Jones Banqueting Hall at Palace of Whitehall, and the Royal Courts of Justice, Supreme Court and Bow Street Magistrates Court.
The 500 Hidden Secrets of London
Where are the 5 best places to find street food? Which are the 5 best restaurants to grab your lunch at in Soho? Which pubs have the most amazing interiors? Where are the best places to discover vintage vinyl? Which are the most innovative theatre companies? Where will you find the most unusual museums? The best places for an outdoor swim?
The 500 Hidden Secrets of London reveals these good-to-know places and many more. Discover a diverse range of under-the-radar yet outstanding addresses that will allow you to explore the best of the city away from the crowds. An affectionate and informed guide to London, written by a true local.
This is a book for visitors who want to avoid the usual tourist spots and for residents who are keen to track down the city’s best-kept secrets.
Bizarre London
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.
33 Walks in London That You Shouldn’t Miss
Experience the less explored pockets of this iconic city through the eyes and words of an enamoured local. Join native Londoner and habitual walker Nicola Perry, as she leads you away from the more famed attractions on 33 strolls through the capital of Britain s most interesting enclaves, sharing entertaining insights, cultural anecdotes, and insider tips at every cobblestoned turn and bend in the river. Each curated walk burrows its way into the heart of a neighbourhood and reveals its individual personality, hidden gems, and history.
With its labyrinth of characterful streets and alleys, charming squares, open green spaces, monuments and museums, public artworks, bustling markets, and tempting boutiques and restaurants, London is a walker’s paradise. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or lifelong resident, exploring the city on foot offers endless surprises fascinating sights and stories, both ancient and modern, concealed in plain view.
I Never Knew That About London
Bestselling author Christopher Winn takes us on a captivating journey around London to discover the unknown tales of our capital’s history. Travelling through the villages and districts that make up the world’s most dynamic metropolis I Never Knew That About London unearths the hidden gems of legends, firsts, inventions, adventures and birthplaces that shape the city’s compelling, and at times, turbulent past.
See the Chelsea river views that inspired Turner in his final years and find out where London’s first nude statue is. Explore London’s finest country house in Charlton and unearth the secrets of the Mother of Parliaments . Spy out the village that gave its name to a car and the Russian word for railway station. Discover which church steeple gave us the design of the traditional wedding cake, where the sandwich was invented and where in Bond Street you can see London’s oldest artefact. Visit the house where Handel and Jimi Hendrix both lived. Climb the famous 311 steps of the Monument, go from East to West and back again at Greenwich and fly the world’s biggest big wheel.
Brimming with facts, stories and snippets providing a spellbinding insight into the history of London, this beautifully illustrated gem of a book is guaranteed to inform and amuse in equal measure.
The Borough Market Cookbook
Borough Market is the beating heart of London’s food scene. Every year millions of locals and tourists flock to Borough Market to soak up the unique atmosphere, interact with the expert traders and sample the world-class produce.
This gorgeous book takes you on a tour of a year at the Market, from the beginning of spring, through Easter and Midsummer, to Apple Day in October and the switching on of the lights at Christmas – with the most delicious recipes highlighting the very best of those celebrations.
Divided by season, each recipe celebrates at least one hero ingredient from that time of year: why not try Chilled asparagus soup in spring; Rolled pork belly and sticky nectarines in summer; Beetroot dal in autumn; or Clementine sponges with cranberry sauce in winter? Along the way, you’ll be introduced to key seasonal ingredients with shopping and preparation tips, straight from the artisan producers, that will change how you cook for ever.
Packed full of beautiful photography, much of it shot on location at Borough throughout the year, this is a cookbook that will inspire food lovers and home cooks everywhere, even if they only follow Borough Market from afar.
Tired of London, Tired of Life
As the late great Samuel Johnson sagely observed, ‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.’ When author Tom Jones found himself doing the same things week in, week out while living in England’s treasured capital, he decided to heed Johnson’s words and seek out a thing to do each day in London to make him fall back in love with the city.
Here, in Tired of London, Tired of Life, Tom shares the fun, diverting and imaginative things that you can do to keep yourself amused in London. With seasonally appropriate suggestions for each day of the year, you can explore East London by canoe, search for Fagin’s lair in Clerkenwell, play petanque in Southwark, seek out Aphrodite in the British Museum on Valentine’s Day and enjoy a host of unusual ways to enjoy the capital. So grab your A-Z and start discovering a whole other side to this majestic city.
London’s Hidden Walks
People love walking the streets of London, but there are always more questions than answers after a stroll through the capital. Following any of the 13 walks featured in the book will allow the user to walk in the footsteps of authors and statesmen, murderers and revolutionaries.
With over 400 full-colour photographs, this book is packed with interesting details about London’s history with both personal tales of those that wandered the same streets in former years and a more general social and economic history of the different areas covered.
Each walk is brought to life with thumbnail photos, striking full-page photos and detailed maps illustrating the route and where buildings and points of interest are located. From open sunny squares, to winding alleyways and quiet hidden corners, explore London and discover how 2,000 years of colourful history have shaped this city.
London By Tube
London is a city of surprises and variety, over 600 square miles packed full of character. And to really know London you must look beyond the obvious; there are broad vistas and quiet corners, iconic sights and grand boulevards, quaint villages, verdant parks, cobbled alleyways, museums, monuments, markets, theatres, and ancient churches.
This book unearths and explores a stupendous range of interesting places, some well known, some less well known, some almost unknown, all of within an easy walk of a Tube station. If you want a day out and you want to do something different then London is your town, the Tube is your means and London by Tube is your guide.
Walk The Lines
The only way to truly discover a city, they say, is on foot. Taking this to extremes, Mark Mason sets out to walk the entire length of the London Underground – overground – passing every station on the way.
In a story packed with historical trivia, personal musings and eavesdropped conversations, Mark learns how to get the best gossip in the City, where to find a pint at 7am, and why the Bank of England won’t let you join the M11 northbound at Junction 5. He has an East End cup of tea with the Krays’ official biographer, discovers what cabbies mean by ‘on the cotton’, and meets the Archers star who was the voice of ‘Mind the Gap’.
Over the course of several hundred miles, Mark contemplates London’s contradictions as well as its charms. He gains insights into our fascination with maps and sees how walking changes our view of the world. Above all, in this love letter to a complicated friend, he celebrates the sights, sounds and soul of the greatest city on earth.
Londonopolis: A Curious History of London
From above ground and below, from the outer suburbs to the inner city, and from the medieval period to the modern day, discover the wonder that is London. Which tube station once housed the Elgin Marbles? What lies behind a Piccadilly doorway that helped Darwin launch his theory of evolution? And who named the Natural History Museum’s long-tailed dinosaur Mr. Whippy?
Londonopolis celebrates all the weird and the wonderful things that make London so magical, and whisks you down the rabbit hole into the warren of backstreets, landmarks, cemeteries, palaces, markets, museums, and secret gardens of the great metropolis. Meet the characters who populate the city, from cockneys to royalty, and peel back layers of time to uncover stories that grow curiouser and curiouser as they go along.
Queer City: Gay London From the Romans to the Present Day
In Roman Londinium the city was dotted with lupanaria (‘wolf dens’ or public pleasure houses), fornices (brothels) and thermiae (hot baths). Then came the Emperor Constantine, with his bishops, monks and missionaries. And so began an endless loop of alternating permissiveness and censure.
Ackroyd takes us right into the hidden history of the city; from the notorious Normans to the frenzy of executions for sodomy in the early nineteenth century. He journeys through the coffee bars of sixties Soho to Gay Liberation, disco music and the horror of AIDS.
Today, we live in an era of openness and tolerance and Queer London has become part of the new norm. Ackroyd tells us the hidden story of how it got there, celebrating its diversity, thrills and energy on the one hand; but reminding us of its very real terrors, dangers and risks on the other.
I Never Knew That About the River Thames
Bestselling author Christopher Winn takes us on a captivating journey out of London along the banks of the River Thames to discover the secrets and stories of England’s most famous waterway. Discover the Thames’s literary heritage at Pangbourne, near Reading, famous as the home of The Wind in the Willows’s Kenneth Grahame, then explore Mapledurham House, the inspiration for its famous Toad Hall. Explore Henley-on-Thames, where the first Oxford and Cambridge boat races were held, then marvel at Southend Pier, the longest pleasure pier in the world.
As he follows the river from source to sea, visiting its towns, villages and places of interest, Winn unearths a fascinating array of facts, folklore, landmarks and legends that are guaranteed to have you exclaiming ‘I Never Knew That!’. Illustrated with line drawings this charming gem of a book is guaranteed to inform and delight in equal measure.
What books have you read about London?
Let me know in the comments.
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