Our London series gives you all the background you need to make the most of your trip. Find out who was crowned at Westminster, buried in St Paul’s or beheaded at the Tower and hear the stories behind these events. Discover the history of Shakespeare’s Globe and the London of Charles Dickens. Learn about the royals and their palaces and take informed trips to Hampton Court and Windsor. We’ll tell you what to look out for in London’s museums and galleries and help you discover the city’s parks, theatres, shops and markets. In short, we’ve done all the research you would do yourself if only you had the time!
There’s a podcast for each episode and we are adding more written information to each post as fast as we can. So, let’s go.
LONDON : HISTORY & CULTURE
Episode 1: Introduction to London
Episode 2: St Paul’s Cathedral, London
Episode 3: The City of London
Episode 4: The Tower of London
Episode 5: London’s Westminster Abbey
Episode 6: The Houses of Parliament in London
Episode 7: Central London’s Whitehall and Trafalgar Square
Episode 8: Buckingham Palace, London’s Best Known Royal Residence
Episode 9: The Inns of Court, London
Episode 10: Fleet Street, London’s Street of Ink
Episode 11: The Strand and Piccadilly
Episode 12: Victoria and Albert’s London
Episode 13: Chaucer and Shakespeare’s London
Episode 14: London and Charles Dickens
Episode 15: Bloomsbury, London’s Literary Heartland
Episode 16: The East End And The Docks
Episode 17: Hampstead and Highgate
Episode 18: The Royal Borough of Greenwich
Episode 19: London’s Royal Parks
Episode 20: The River Thames Through London
Episode 21: Hampton Court Palace
Episode 22: Kew And Richmond
Episode 23: Windsor And Eton
Episode 24: London Shops And Markets
Episode 25: London Diarists And Travel Writers
Episode 26: Literary London
MORE READING ABOUT LONDON
Useful websites for tourists
Visit London
Visit England London City Information Centre
Visit Britain (London Section)
4 comprehensive guidebooks
Lonely Planet Pocket London
Rough Guide to London
Eyewitness London
Fodor’s London Guide
5 niche guidebooks
London A Guide for Curious Wanderers by Jack Chesher
London’s Secret Walks by Graeme Chesters
London Walks, London Stories Edited by David Tucker
London by Tube (Walks near tube stations) by Christopher Winn
London’s Houses by Vicky Wilson
6 histories of London
Elizabeth’s London by Liza Picard
Restoration London by Liza Picard
Dr Johnson’s London by Liza Picard
Victorian London by Liza Picard
Johnson’s Life of London by Boris Johnson
City of London (the history of London as a financial centre) by David Kynaston
5 books on London’s Literary figures
Chaucer by Peter Ackroyd
Globe Life: Life in Shakespeare’s London by Catherine Arnold
Inside Dickens’ London by Michael Paterson
Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles (on the Bloomsbury Group) by Amy Licence
Fictional London: A Guide to the Capital’s Literary Landmarks by Stephen Halliday
3 London anthologies
City Lit London edited by Heather Reyes
Blue Guide Literary Companion to London compiled by Robin Saikai
London: An Illustrated Companion compiled by Rosemary Gray
4 Novels set in London
At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Salaam Brick Lane by Tarquin Hall
Capital by John Lanchester
PODCASTS TO GET YOU STARTED
OTHER CITY BREAK IDEAS
LATEST ARTICLES
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