From 221B Baker Street to the Old Curiosity Shop: A Guide to London's Literary Landmarks

by Stephen Halliday

London is unrivalled as a source of inspiration for writers from Geoffrey Chaucer to J.K. Rowling. From 221B Baker Street to the Old Curiosity Shop will explore the capital both from the viewpoint of the many writers who have used it as a stage for their plots and their characters; and of the readers whose imagination is fired by the knowledge that they are standing outside the home of David Copperfield on the Strand or Count Dracula’s residence in Piccadilly. All of London’s clubs, pubs, restaurants, houses and streets that have been made famous in the works of the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming, Charles Dickens and Evelyn Waugh are featured in this exhaustively researched volume. Listed geographically, each entry provides a description of the location, its place in literature and its inspiration. From Fleming’s legendary Blades Club in Mayfair, that made appearances in both Moonraker and Goldfinger, to Waugh’s bohemian Shepheard’s Hotel from Vile Bodies, that was based on the celebrated Cavendish Hotel, to the haunts of Sherlock Holmes and Bertie Wooster, From 221B Baker Street to the Old Curiosity Shop will appeal to all lovers of classic fiction set in the great city.

Genres: London, Nonfiction, British Literature

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2013

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This shows you how to locate authors and their books in London and beyond. It is well written and organized by location.

My copy did not have an index which would have been helpful. For instance, instead of a mix of everyone in Chelsea it would have been nice to be able to look up Carlyle or where Sir Thomas More’s house is located.

Halliday especially loves Dickens. I’d say 50% of the book deals with his books and characters, where the author lived or was active and for instance how to follow Bill Sykes all over London. There is only one existing house where Dickens lived that remains in London. This book can help you get there or to the random store or restaurant that has taken the place of one of the homes where he once laid his head.

[Sophie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm planning a trip to England at the end of the year (post-pandemic, God willing) so checked this out from the library, as it seemed like it would be a helpful travel guide. It is not. Rather than being laid out by landmark, each chapter is written in a narrative form that spends more time on the literary references than the landmarks themselves, often quoting entire paragraphs from the source material. There's no indication of where these places are or how to get to them. In fact, their names aren't even so much as bolded. Worst of all, at least half of the thing (up through chapter 3, which is as far as I got) is fucking Dickens. I get it, he's very famous and wrote scads of stuff referencing places in London, but God do I hate Dickens, and I have zero interest in reading about places he wrote about.

I'd say "this isn't useful for planning sightseeing, but could be interesting for..." but I'll be damned if I can think whom it would be interesting for, other than the author himself. I can't even recommend it to people who would be interested in a narrative about "literary landmarks" in London, because the prose is so dull and there's next to no depth of information. Pretty sure those lengthy excerpts from Dickens were to fill out the word count, because without them this would hardly be more than a pamphlet.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty much just a paragraph by paragraph list of places in London where things happen in books, split into areas of the Capital, so you could theoretically use it as a walking guide. I think I expected something more.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very lovely 'walking' tour around London and all of the historical and literary points of interested therein. I felt like I was transported, and will surely use this as a tour guide in future trips!

[John McCaskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy books located in London this is a good read. Enables you to do your own literary trail.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I thought it would be but interesting, never the less. Full of information for those who want to know where their favourites sleuths hang out.