Description
Book SynopsisRobert Shepherd is an award-winning radio and television producer based at Westminster, an author of political biographies and histories, and a former special adviser in Whitehall. His 'fly on the wall' documentary about the Foreign Office for Channel 4's Dispatches won Europe's Prix Stendhal. He also produced What Has Become Of Us, Channel 4's series on post-war Britain, Straight Talk with Andrew Neil for BBC News and Radio 4's The Prime Ministers.
Trade ReviewAlmost too much history for a single mind to absorb has happened above the sand and gravel of Thorney Island. Yet, in Robert Shepherd, a very fine mind has sifted the archaeological, institutional, political and human débris with such skill and clarity that the rest of us can absorb this abundant Wesminster "biography" with pleasure and instruction. As someone who works in the great gothic Palace which rests upon that history-soaked reef, I shall never look upon my patch in the same way again. -- Professor the Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield FBA
This is the sort of scintillating book that I would want to write, had I the wit or half the wisdom. -- Michael Dobbs (Lord Dobbs of Wylye)
Shepherd combines intense scholarship with gentle humour. He has the penetrating faculty of describing each tree while never losing sight of the wood. -- Matthew Parris, Times columnist, BBC broadcaster and former MP
[Shepherd] has written an entertaining life of the village that spins on its own axis. -- Caroline Shenton * The Spectator *
Well researched ... the book is at its best [when the] narrative is leavened with surprising anecdotes. * The Sunday Times *
Westminster has developed a most distinct personality since its birth as a swampy Bronze Age island, and Shepherd explains, describes and charts it with great scholarship, of course, but with a smile and a quizzical eyebrow. I love learning how little I knew. * The Spectator *
A fascinating account of the development of a religious, royal and Parliamentary village -- Keith Simpson, MP * House Magazine *
A remarkable story of the heart of Westminster, the birthplace of parliamentary government and a cockpit of power for a thousand years. Both instructive and entertaining. * The Good Book Guide *
Table of ContentsAuthor's Note \ Maps and Plans \
Part I - Beginnings \ 1. 'That Terrible Place' \ 2. The Confessor and his Marvel \ 3. 'Two Nations in the Womb' \ 4. Norman Rule and Resistance \
Part II - Making The Royal Capital \ 5. An Unlikely Founding Father \ 6. Seat of Government \ 7. 'The Most Glorious Work in England' \ 8. Parliament \ 9. Edward and the Stone of Destiny \ 10. From Charing Cross to St Stephen's \ 11. Chaucer's Westminster \ 12. Raising the Roof \ 13. Sanctity and Sanctuary \
Part III - Revolutionaries \ 14. A New Era \ 15. Whitehall Palace \ 16. End of the Old Order \ 17. The Shape of Things to Come \ 18. A Tale of Two Sisters \ 19. Holy Terror \ 20. Scandal and Splendour \ 21. Killing the King \ 22. Republicans and Restorers \ 23. Fire and Flight \
Part IV - New Political Capital \ 24. Cockpit of Power \ 25. The Prime Minister \ 26. Georgian Icons \ 27. Mobs and Scribblers \ 28. Pitt's Village \ 29. From Bad Debts to High Hopes \ 30. Village at War \ 31. Assassination \ 32. Royal Farce \ 33. Reform \ 34. Fire! \
Part V - Global Icon \ 35. Victorian Phoenix \ 36. Golden Age \ 37. Dynamite \ 38. Pomp and Circumstance \ 39. War and Peace \ 40. Bitter Fruit \ 41. Finest Hour \ 42. Masters and Modernisers \ 43. New Wine in Old Battles \ Notes \ Bibliography \ Index
