Description
Book SynopsisJerry White's London in the Nineteenth Century is the richest and most absorbing account of the city's greatest century by its leading expert.
London in the nineteenth century was the greatest city mankind had ever seen. Its growth was stupendous. Its wealth was dazzling. Its horrors shocked the world. This was the London of Blake, Thackeray and Mayhew, of Nash, Faraday and Disraeli. Most of all it was the London of Dickens. As William Blake put it, London was 'a Human awful wonder of God'.
In Jerry White's dazzling history we witness the city's unparalleled metamorphosis over the course of the century through the daily lives of its inhabitants. We see how Londoners worked, played, and adapted to the demands of the metropolis during this century of dizzying change. The result is a panorama teeming with life.
Trade ReviewA dazzling and dramatic narrative of a century of high-speed change ... A must-have for anyone seriously interested in London’s history * Evening Standard *
Magisterial * Observer *
Magnificent ... Charged with infectious enthusiasm for its subject, this is an unmissable treat which ought to be top of every Londoner’s reading list * Time Out *
A brilliant account of the bursting, overflowing city, with its glittering wealth and harrowing poverty * Financial Times *
Jerry White is to London as Boswell is to Johnson...
London in the Nineteenth Century should sit on your shelf alongside Debrett’s, the Oxford dictionary, and your complete set of Dickens * Daily Telegraph *
White brings to his book a diligence and contagious zest that may serve to discourage anyone from ever tackling the subject again * Sunday Times *
Fascinating … irresistible -- Liza Picard * BBC History Magazine *
