Lost London

Bringing London's past to life through many of its lost and forgotten treasures, landmarks, customs and stories. London is a city steeped in history, a place where the past lingers in every shadow. More than 2,000 years in the making and covering 600 square miles, like any modern capital it reinvents itself on an almost perpetual basis, yet it's almost impossible to walk its streets without finding a survivor from one of its previous incarnations. Besides fragments of Roman wall, intact Norman churches and even traces of the odd Saxon fish trap in the Thames, London still boasts working medieval markets, a handful of ancient timber-framed survivors of the Great Fire, and scores of streets and squares that grew out of early experiments in town planning. Many of these treasures are enjoyed by visitors, but an awful lot has been lost over the intervening years. Often there are tantalizing clues to what has gone, in old documents, fading photographs, or a curious street name. This book provides the perfect place to begin a search for the lost history of London. AUTHOR: Well-received by reviewers and readers alike, David Long's engaging, imaginative and well-informed books reflect an unquenchable thirst for those events and personalities that illuminate the past. An author and writer since leaving university, his work has appeared on TV and radio, as well as in The Times, countless magazines and London's Evening Standard. As well as being an award-winning ghostwriter, he has written a number of books on London, including London's 100 Strangest Places, London's 100 Most Extraordinary Buildings, London's Secret Square Mile, When Did Big Ben First Bong?, and the highly successful The Little Book of London. 29 b/w illustrations