What do you think?
Rate this book
The Spirit of London
For centuries, London has been amongst the greatest cities of the world. But a city is nothing without its people. This new history of London, told through a relay-race of great Londoners, shows that the ingenuity, diversity, creativity and enterprise of London are second to none.
450 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
85 people are currently reading
695 people want to read
About the author
Boris Johnson
36 books241 followersBoris Johnson is a British politician in the Conservative Party and the former Prime Minister of United Kingdom as well as the former Mayor of London. Due to his public school, blustering, comedic style, he is generally either loved or loathed by members of the British public.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
Read
April 8, 2014A very entertaining and informative overview of the history of the world's greatest city.
October 3, 2014
Oh dear! All very Boris. He cyles where once Alfred stood or Boudica burned - he thinks. He describes how shoppers talked in the year 800 or whatever - he thinks. Trouble is, as he describes his cycling around these spiffing historical sites all that comes to mind is Boris, his school blazer pockets bulging with conkers and a gobstopper protruding from his cheek. Quite fun, but golly and cripes chaps, just a wheeze and beats doing your homework; those chaps who write real history books must be bonkers!
July 6, 2023
Flair and flamboyance make up the generally accepted portrait of Boris Johnson who, notwithstanding the task of weaving a history of London with its figures, did not dedicate a chapter to the mayor at the time.
Whether his modesty is as bland as he speculated about his childhood idol Keith Richards is purely up to you. Just as he is controversial now as then, he never seems to care.
Along this insouciant line of narrative, it is therefore telling that he did not churn out the usual Tory rhetoric like one would expect. It requires due diligence to enumerate his secret agendas throughout a mostly joyous chant for the English capital.
From being known as Londinium to London, the city has witnessed its own engulfing and the passing of innumerable geniuses (a title he is aptly self-aware not to anoint himself). In Johnson’s (not the Dr.) never-ending humour, they have come to life as a figurine in clay, bronze, and stainless steel.
I truly felt unimposing the way he introduced the Englishness rooted in these stories, which could be perceived as a jingoistic war cry launched by an Anglo-Saxon, if anything. It is worth noting that he did not even shy about his Muslim roots, nor those of Mo Farah: although the latter case is suspicious of fairweather fandom.
I could read that he has laid down some progressive cues as to his political beliefs (again, potentially virtue signalling), when it is clear that in a few years of time, he is anything but that. However, as my rating shows, it is rather John Doe being overjoyed by the Olympics than him issuing a cloying appeal to the majority of his mayoral voters.
His two traits I named at the outset do justify what he had to express. The snappy overview of such a vast period of grand history illustrates his proclivity for reputation, a common diagnosis among public schoolers. Preponderant proofs are now online that he does things in the least socially acceptable ways.
Boris retold famous stories to hit home a point de facto and per se, flamboyant manoeuvres may fall off in the face of scrutiny, which is a fleeting phenomenon before they survive by word of mouth.
Whether his modesty is as bland as he speculated about his childhood idol Keith Richards is purely up to you. Just as he is controversial now as then, he never seems to care.
Along this insouciant line of narrative, it is therefore telling that he did not churn out the usual Tory rhetoric like one would expect. It requires due diligence to enumerate his secret agendas throughout a mostly joyous chant for the English capital.
From being known as Londinium to London, the city has witnessed its own engulfing and the passing of innumerable geniuses (a title he is aptly self-aware not to anoint himself). In Johnson’s (not the Dr.) never-ending humour, they have come to life as a figurine in clay, bronze, and stainless steel.
I truly felt unimposing the way he introduced the Englishness rooted in these stories, which could be perceived as a jingoistic war cry launched by an Anglo-Saxon, if anything. It is worth noting that he did not even shy about his Muslim roots, nor those of Mo Farah: although the latter case is suspicious of fairweather fandom.
I could read that he has laid down some progressive cues as to his political beliefs (again, potentially virtue signalling), when it is clear that in a few years of time, he is anything but that. However, as my rating shows, it is rather John Doe being overjoyed by the Olympics than him issuing a cloying appeal to the majority of his mayoral voters.
His two traits I named at the outset do justify what he had to express. The snappy overview of such a vast period of grand history illustrates his proclivity for reputation, a common diagnosis among public schoolers. Preponderant proofs are now online that he does things in the least socially acceptable ways.
Boris retold famous stories to hit home a point de facto and per se, flamboyant manoeuvres may fall off in the face of scrutiny, which is a fleeting phenomenon before they survive by word of mouth.
November 7, 2013
I bought this book to read as a tribute to the Great City I visited one day on, precisely, 5th July 1997, it's like a dream to me then, finally I decided to walk alone to visit Dr Johnson's House at 17 Gough Square, off Fleet Street. So this book's title and the author's surname interested me at first sight. The book's theme is simple: it focuses on "the people who made the city that made the world" as appeared under its title. In fact, of all its 19 themes, two being the constructed things (London Bridge and The Midland Grand Hotel) and seventeen being the people (Boudica, Hadrian, Alfred the Great ... Keith Richards). I thought this should be worth reading to find out something I'd never read/known before.
I soon found this book readable due to its large fonts and the author's writing style tinged with his sense of humour, therefore, his readers should know something new as related to any theme in which they're interested. For instance:
1) LONDON BRIDGE: The river was about four times wider than it is today, and much slower -- but there was scarcely a coracle to be seen on the Thames. When the time came for Christ to preach his ministry in Galilee there were certainly a few proto-Britons living in a state of undress and illiteracy. But there were no Londoners. There was no big or lasting habitation on the site of the modern city, because there was no possibility of a settlement -- not without that vital peice of transport infrastructure I use every day.
By my calculation, today's London Bridge must be the twelfth or thirteenth incarnation of a structure that has been repeatedly bashed, broken, burned or bombed. ... (p. xii)
2) HADRIAN: Clonk. They were rebuilding London Bridge in 1834 when workmen hit something on the bed of the river. It was green and slimy, but after they had got the mud off they could see it was a fine Roman head, 43 centimetres high and slightly over life-size.
It was an emperor, with a long straight nose and a slight frown and -- aha -- a beard and well-trimmed moustache. he wasn't as fleshy as Nero, and the beard was less bushy than Marcus Aurelius. It was a delicate sort of beard. It belonged to a Hellenophile aesthete and intellectual, one of the greatest administrators the world has ever seen. ... (p. 9)
3) SAMUEL JOHNSON: ... Woe betide him if there was a task he had failed to complete, because his conscience would be on at him -- clicking its tongue and tapping its foot -- until the job was finally done. If you want a single episode that sums up the guilty compulsions of Samuel Johnson, think of how he had once failed as a young man to go to Uttoxeter to do an errand for his father, and how fifty years later he went to expiate the omission, and stood bare-headed in the rain before the spot where his father had had his stall. ... (p. 137)
etc.
I'm sure we can enjoy reading nearly all of them and find these episodes new, informative and interesting in any theme we prefer. As for me, I'd like to confess I've known a little on these themes: Mellitus, Richard Whittington, Lionel Rothschild, Mary Seacole, WT Stead, Keith Richards and the Midland Grand Hotel. However, I kept reading all of them and thus knew more. I also wondered why Sir Cliff Richard, one of the great British pop singers some 50 years ago while Elvis Presley his contemporary crooned famously in the USA, has not been included in the list.
That's it, my friends. Get a copy and enjoy!
I soon found this book readable due to its large fonts and the author's writing style tinged with his sense of humour, therefore, his readers should know something new as related to any theme in which they're interested. For instance:
1) LONDON BRIDGE: The river was about four times wider than it is today, and much slower -- but there was scarcely a coracle to be seen on the Thames. When the time came for Christ to preach his ministry in Galilee there were certainly a few proto-Britons living in a state of undress and illiteracy. But there were no Londoners. There was no big or lasting habitation on the site of the modern city, because there was no possibility of a settlement -- not without that vital peice of transport infrastructure I use every day.
By my calculation, today's London Bridge must be the twelfth or thirteenth incarnation of a structure that has been repeatedly bashed, broken, burned or bombed. ... (p. xii)
2) HADRIAN: Clonk. They were rebuilding London Bridge in 1834 when workmen hit something on the bed of the river. It was green and slimy, but after they had got the mud off they could see it was a fine Roman head, 43 centimetres high and slightly over life-size.
It was an emperor, with a long straight nose and a slight frown and -- aha -- a beard and well-trimmed moustache. he wasn't as fleshy as Nero, and the beard was less bushy than Marcus Aurelius. It was a delicate sort of beard. It belonged to a Hellenophile aesthete and intellectual, one of the greatest administrators the world has ever seen. ... (p. 9)
3) SAMUEL JOHNSON: ... Woe betide him if there was a task he had failed to complete, because his conscience would be on at him -- clicking its tongue and tapping its foot -- until the job was finally done. If you want a single episode that sums up the guilty compulsions of Samuel Johnson, think of how he had once failed as a young man to go to Uttoxeter to do an errand for his father, and how fifty years later he went to expiate the omission, and stood bare-headed in the rain before the spot where his father had had his stall. ... (p. 137)
etc.
I'm sure we can enjoy reading nearly all of them and find these episodes new, informative and interesting in any theme we prefer. As for me, I'd like to confess I've known a little on these themes: Mellitus, Richard Whittington, Lionel Rothschild, Mary Seacole, WT Stead, Keith Richards and the Midland Grand Hotel. However, I kept reading all of them and thus knew more. I also wondered why Sir Cliff Richard, one of the great British pop singers some 50 years ago while Elvis Presley his contemporary crooned famously in the USA, has not been included in the list.
That's it, my friends. Get a copy and enjoy!
June 2, 2013
Boris Johnson’s ‘Life of London’ bears many of the hallmarks of the public persona of the Mayor of London himself. It’s jumping from one important figure to another rather than acting as a biography of the city makes it disjointed, a little unwieldy, slightly unpredictable, possibly ill-advised.
Closer inspection, however, reveals that details of the city’s history are there in abundance, if fleetingly and with more of an eye for how the past felt than how it can be described.. Amidst the stories of the lives of such giants as Samuel Johnson, Hadrian, Alfred the Great, and others lie the details of the social, economic, and political state of the city. Johnson’s work flows as the Thames, freezing only here and there to concentrate on a particular scandal or triumph.
What Boris does best – in his writings as well as professionally – is to passionately love his country and its capital. Yet it is this very affection which either blinds him to fact or forces platitudes and propaganda from him. He is a politician, and many are the times when politicians push themselves to delight their audiences with popular falsehoods. Of all the British demigods of whom no politician can afford to offend the memory, Winston Churchill must surely be the greatest. Johnson launches into the usual sycophantic banality early on, regaling the reader with tales of how Churchill had warned in 1934 of how Hitler’s air force needed to be carefully planned for, etc. While nobody would seek to deny that Churchill was a great war leader, let us not forget that Churchill’s staggering economic incompetence - - featuring such ‘great’ decisions as pegging Britain to the gold standard at all, let alone pegging it at a highly uncompetitive rate - did nothing to guide the continent through the troubled waters of the post-crash, pre-war era. When th author talks about the ‘indiscriminate sadism’ of the Luftwaffe’s bombing campaign, the mind drifts to what Churchill ordered done to Hamburg and Dresden.
Yet Johnson’s inability to criticise Churchill does not prevent him from speaking plainly about where the war was won. El Alamein, he declares, was not the turning point we Brits have always claimed; Dunkirk was not the triumph taught in our schools; the war was won at Stalingrad by Soviet troops prepared to be torn to shreds. Boris even quotes Churchill as saying that the average Tommy was soft. This is not the writing of a man whose love of London and of his country is an attempt to propel himself further into the limelight that a bid for Prime Ministership may follow.
To the end, Johnson’s Life of London is complex because it has been manufactured thus. It is entertaining, informative, informal. It is delightful, capable of seriousness, and yet it leaps from one period to another almost as if it cannot concentrate on one issue for longer than a few pages: it flits, boring with one topic as another darts into view. In short it is, like its author, entertaining, if not to be taken too seriously. Or is it?
Closer inspection, however, reveals that details of the city’s history are there in abundance, if fleetingly and with more of an eye for how the past felt than how it can be described.. Amidst the stories of the lives of such giants as Samuel Johnson, Hadrian, Alfred the Great, and others lie the details of the social, economic, and political state of the city. Johnson’s work flows as the Thames, freezing only here and there to concentrate on a particular scandal or triumph.
What Boris does best – in his writings as well as professionally – is to passionately love his country and its capital. Yet it is this very affection which either blinds him to fact or forces platitudes and propaganda from him. He is a politician, and many are the times when politicians push themselves to delight their audiences with popular falsehoods. Of all the British demigods of whom no politician can afford to offend the memory, Winston Churchill must surely be the greatest. Johnson launches into the usual sycophantic banality early on, regaling the reader with tales of how Churchill had warned in 1934 of how Hitler’s air force needed to be carefully planned for, etc. While nobody would seek to deny that Churchill was a great war leader, let us not forget that Churchill’s staggering economic incompetence - - featuring such ‘great’ decisions as pegging Britain to the gold standard at all, let alone pegging it at a highly uncompetitive rate - did nothing to guide the continent through the troubled waters of the post-crash, pre-war era. When th author talks about the ‘indiscriminate sadism’ of the Luftwaffe’s bombing campaign, the mind drifts to what Churchill ordered done to Hamburg and Dresden.
Yet Johnson’s inability to criticise Churchill does not prevent him from speaking plainly about where the war was won. El Alamein, he declares, was not the turning point we Brits have always claimed; Dunkirk was not the triumph taught in our schools; the war was won at Stalingrad by Soviet troops prepared to be torn to shreds. Boris even quotes Churchill as saying that the average Tommy was soft. This is not the writing of a man whose love of London and of his country is an attempt to propel himself further into the limelight that a bid for Prime Ministership may follow.
To the end, Johnson’s Life of London is complex because it has been manufactured thus. It is entertaining, informative, informal. It is delightful, capable of seriousness, and yet it leaps from one period to another almost as if it cannot concentrate on one issue for longer than a few pages: it flits, boring with one topic as another darts into view. In short it is, like its author, entertaining, if not to be taken too seriously. Or is it?
July 20, 2013
The history of London, told in interludes nominally centered around individual Londoners, a la Boris. In typical his usual fashion he's quite upfront about his biases and views, so if you already know that he's not your cup of tea, don't bother- this version of London history is very Boris and unabashedly Tory. (Samuel Johnson, father of compassionate conservatism! Though I do appreciate that he admitted to being thoroughly wrong about Mary Seacole after first encountering her name as part of a play at his childrens' school and including her in the book.) The tone is humorous and irreverent throughout, and I was often quite amused. There are some chapters I would have given four stars and some I would have only given two, so I've settled on three as a compromise.
Boris' enthusiasm for his subjects (both London and its people) is palpable throughout, and there are a lot of gems tucked in here- as there are in London itself, if you go poking around. Even people who know a thing or two about London may find some surprises. The main problem with the book is that it lacks focus. It seems less like a coherent narrative than what came of Boris wandering- or more often, pedaling- around the City, and sometimes it feels like even the author isn't sure what to make of some of the people he's writing about. (Robert Hooke- misunderstood genius, prickly know-it-all, somewhere in between?)
The ending got a bit weak, with a run of uneven chapters. Boris is very- though I suppose not surprisingly- sentimental about the Victorians, and besotted with Keef in a way more schoolgirl than seasoned politician. On the other hand, he's also quite honest about aspects of history other writers might prefer to gloss over, such as the anti-Semitism covered in the Rothschild chapter or the criticisms of Churchill. (He's at some pain to defend the great man, but he at least presents the argument.) I almost feel as though Boris found it much more difficult to approach more recent history, particularly the part of it within his own lifetime.
Boris' enthusiasm for his subjects (both London and its people) is palpable throughout, and there are a lot of gems tucked in here- as there are in London itself, if you go poking around. Even people who know a thing or two about London may find some surprises. The main problem with the book is that it lacks focus. It seems less like a coherent narrative than what came of Boris wandering- or more often, pedaling- around the City, and sometimes it feels like even the author isn't sure what to make of some of the people he's writing about. (Robert Hooke- misunderstood genius, prickly know-it-all, somewhere in between?)
The ending got a bit weak, with a run of uneven chapters. Boris is very- though I suppose not surprisingly- sentimental about the Victorians, and besotted with Keef in a way more schoolgirl than seasoned politician. On the other hand, he's also quite honest about aspects of history other writers might prefer to gloss over, such as the anti-Semitism covered in the Rothschild chapter or the criticisms of Churchill. (He's at some pain to defend the great man, but he at least presents the argument.) I almost feel as though Boris found it much more difficult to approach more recent history, particularly the part of it within his own lifetime.
December 28, 2014
My parents are from London, and I've spent a considerable amount of my life in and around the city. My father is a historian of sorts who imbued in me stories of London from the Romans, William the Conqueror, Shakespeare, the Great Fire, the Industrial Revolution and his own experiences on Thames sailing barges bringing coal into the docks as a young man. He watched the German Luftwaffe fly up the river to bomb London--all these stories and more were fragments I grew up with, the traces of which I sought out during my own wanderings around London when I lived there and on business trips.
One of the values of Boris Johnson's book, in my opinion, is that it stitches these fragments into a coherent tapestry. It provides a framework by focusing on certain London luminaries who were seminal to London's growth and success. From Boudica to Alfred the Great, from Chaucer to Samual Johnson, from Rothschild to Keith Richards (yes, of the Stones), he sheds light on various aspects (Finance, the Press, Sanitation, Pop Culture) of London to highlight what makes it such an amazing city to this day.
And, being a former journalist before he was made Mayor of London, he writes with wonderful prose. When writing about Shakespeare:
"Every fact or factoid is a frail peg from which is suspended a vast duffel coat sodden with conjecture pocket stuffed with surmise."
About Samuel Johnson:
"...the sole author of the first dictionary of the language and therefore the supreme admiral of the all-conquering fleet of English words that has sailed into ever port and up every creek and inlet in the world."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and find Boris Johnson himself an intriguing personality.
One of the values of Boris Johnson's book, in my opinion, is that it stitches these fragments into a coherent tapestry. It provides a framework by focusing on certain London luminaries who were seminal to London's growth and success. From Boudica to Alfred the Great, from Chaucer to Samual Johnson, from Rothschild to Keith Richards (yes, of the Stones), he sheds light on various aspects (Finance, the Press, Sanitation, Pop Culture) of London to highlight what makes it such an amazing city to this day.
And, being a former journalist before he was made Mayor of London, he writes with wonderful prose. When writing about Shakespeare:
"Every fact or factoid is a frail peg from which is suspended a vast duffel coat sodden with conjecture pocket stuffed with surmise."
About Samuel Johnson:
"...the sole author of the first dictionary of the language and therefore the supreme admiral of the all-conquering fleet of English words that has sailed into ever port and up every creek and inlet in the world."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and find Boris Johnson himself an intriguing personality.
June 22, 2013
An entertaining and scattershot read that reminded me of the London Walks book and also The Story of England. Mayor Boris Johnson starts with the settlement of the Thames region and the reasons why London was settled, pays tribute to Boudicca and the great fire and plague and a really fascinating look at St. Pancras Station. I loved every story, except the Keith Richards one. I guess I'm not much of a Stones fan.
It's a very quick read and you'll enjoy some of Johnson's odd turns of phrase.
It's a very quick read and you'll enjoy some of Johnson's odd turns of phrase.
July 28, 2012
Adored it!
Now must find out much more about Robert Hooke "the most astonishingly inventive minds of his or any age." Died in 1703
Fun facts about English: "the OED now has 600,000 words, the the Global Language Monitor calculates there are one million English lexemes.... Chinese dislects together can muster about half a million; Spanish, 225,000; Russian, 195,000; German, 185,000; French, 100,000; and Arabic, 45,000."
Now must find out much more about Robert Hooke "the most astonishingly inventive minds of his or any age." Died in 1703
Fun facts about English: "the OED now has 600,000 words, the the Global Language Monitor calculates there are one million English lexemes.... Chinese dislects together can muster about half a million; Spanish, 225,000; Russian, 195,000; German, 185,000; French, 100,000; and Arabic, 45,000."
October 20, 2020
A surprising author, former Mayor of London and PM of the UK Boris Johnson tells the story of London through an unorthodox list of individuals and inventions. I really enjoyed how he told a very comprehensive history while focusing on people that history does not normally give the attention they deserve. He of course covers the most important figures such as Shakespeare and Churchill but the real genius in his story-telling comes from covering figures like Robert Hooke instead of Isaac Newton or WT Stead, the father of tabloid journalism. His style at first made me question whether he had chosen the right focal points but his style does a great job at tying up all the loose ends, creating a comprehensive, entertaining and fun history of a city I've visited twice but obviously haven't scratched the surface of.
September 8, 2020
Awesome 👌! Strongly recommended for all who interested in London and history.
January 3, 2013
Although my knowledge of British history is sketchy at best, I really enjoyed this book and was surprised by how much I learned as I read. Johnson has divided his history of the city of London into 17 chapters about influential Londoners who changed the city and, consequently, the world.
This book is Johnson’s love letter to his city, and it is obvious through every page that he finds London’s history enthralling. Although some of the people he chose to include in his book seem inexplicable to me (seriously, Keith Richards?), many of the chapters are devoted to the usual suspects: Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Churchill, etc. I thought it was interesting that he chose to take us on little walking tours of the city with him as he worked his way through the modern streets looking for historical sites that aren’t well-known.
Johnson’s style is dry and self-deprecating. At one point, he strong-arms his way past museum docents to sit in Winston Churchill’s chair in the Cabinet War Rooms. Quickly, he realizes he is acting (and probably looking) like a bit of a twerp, and he jumps up to leave before tourists have a chance to snap pictures and “reveal [his] pretentiousness on Twitter.” For all his tendency to use eclectic vocabulary (words like “apogee” and “uxorious” stuck out at me as though Johnson was saying, “Look what a smart word I know!”), I thought Johnson’s voice was intelligent and funny. I laughed out loud at several points in the chapter on Robert Hooke. In short, through reading this book, I learned a lot about London and had a great time doing it.
My only complaint about this book is the little “inserts” that read like encyclopedia entries stuck haphazardly into some of the chapters. Johnson wrote up little snippets about the flushing toilet, the King James Bible, the suit, etc., and they are dropped into the book wherever they relate just the tiniest bit to something in the chapter. It’s almost like Johnson just couldn’t help himself – he HAD to divulge whatever information he thought we should know about these things. Most notably in the chapter on W.T. Stead, I was annoyed by the appearance of one of these entries because I was really enjoying the story of the main chapter, and I didn’t care to be interrupted.
With that small criticism aside, I found this book to be funny and informative, and I will most likely read another of Johnson’s books.
This book is Johnson’s love letter to his city, and it is obvious through every page that he finds London’s history enthralling. Although some of the people he chose to include in his book seem inexplicable to me (seriously, Keith Richards?), many of the chapters are devoted to the usual suspects: Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Churchill, etc. I thought it was interesting that he chose to take us on little walking tours of the city with him as he worked his way through the modern streets looking for historical sites that aren’t well-known.
Johnson’s style is dry and self-deprecating. At one point, he strong-arms his way past museum docents to sit in Winston Churchill’s chair in the Cabinet War Rooms. Quickly, he realizes he is acting (and probably looking) like a bit of a twerp, and he jumps up to leave before tourists have a chance to snap pictures and “reveal [his] pretentiousness on Twitter.” For all his tendency to use eclectic vocabulary (words like “apogee” and “uxorious” stuck out at me as though Johnson was saying, “Look what a smart word I know!”), I thought Johnson’s voice was intelligent and funny. I laughed out loud at several points in the chapter on Robert Hooke. In short, through reading this book, I learned a lot about London and had a great time doing it.
My only complaint about this book is the little “inserts” that read like encyclopedia entries stuck haphazardly into some of the chapters. Johnson wrote up little snippets about the flushing toilet, the King James Bible, the suit, etc., and they are dropped into the book wherever they relate just the tiniest bit to something in the chapter. It’s almost like Johnson just couldn’t help himself – he HAD to divulge whatever information he thought we should know about these things. Most notably in the chapter on W.T. Stead, I was annoyed by the appearance of one of these entries because I was really enjoying the story of the main chapter, and I didn’t care to be interrupted.
With that small criticism aside, I found this book to be funny and informative, and I will most likely read another of Johnson’s books.
July 23, 2012
A Pudding Lane baker forgot his tray of buns, starting a fire which destroyed most of mediaeval London back in 1666. According to records, the ‘official’ death toll was, unbelievably, only eight souls, but in todays currency, the monetary losses surpassed billions of pounds.
Boris Johnson, who happens to be the Mayor of London these days, provides a fascinating insight into the history of London, including the destructive Great Fire of London.
He writes about many former Londoners whom most of us never heard of, like Boudica, a fiery redhead woman, the Queen of the Iceni tribe, who with her rebels, burned London to the ground in 60 AD to avenge the rape of her two daughters and was determined to rid Britain of the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.
Fast-forward closer to modern times, John Wilkes was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1757. Described as the 'Father of Liberty', he supported the rebels in the American War of Independence, and forced the government to concede to verbatim publications of parliamentary debates by the press.
Mr Johnson also writes about folks that are more well-known to us, like William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, even the Rolling Stones rocker, Keith Richards, or 'Keef.'
We learn about the terrible toll the water borne disease, cholera, took on the London populace. This was long before anyone realized someone better design a sewage system in 1858 to stop effluent from flowing into the River Thames. So intelligently designed and built by Londoner Joseph Bazalgette, the city still relies on the system today.
With some wit, sprinkled with intelligent analysis and colorful English words, the book, 'Johnson's Life of London' could well become a history buffs classic and a London visitors guidebook.
Although it's a fast-paced read, I had to put on the brakes occasionally to visit Wikipedia and find out more about the events, paintings and people Mr Johnson covers.
Overall, the book describes what a significant role London and it’s citizens have played in the world of geopolitics, language and culture, and who better to write it than the cities colorful champion, Boris Johnson.
Boris Johnson, who happens to be the Mayor of London these days, provides a fascinating insight into the history of London, including the destructive Great Fire of London.
He writes about many former Londoners whom most of us never heard of, like Boudica, a fiery redhead woman, the Queen of the Iceni tribe, who with her rebels, burned London to the ground in 60 AD to avenge the rape of her two daughters and was determined to rid Britain of the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.
Fast-forward closer to modern times, John Wilkes was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1757. Described as the 'Father of Liberty', he supported the rebels in the American War of Independence, and forced the government to concede to verbatim publications of parliamentary debates by the press.
Mr Johnson also writes about folks that are more well-known to us, like William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, even the Rolling Stones rocker, Keith Richards, or 'Keef.'
We learn about the terrible toll the water borne disease, cholera, took on the London populace. This was long before anyone realized someone better design a sewage system in 1858 to stop effluent from flowing into the River Thames. So intelligently designed and built by Londoner Joseph Bazalgette, the city still relies on the system today.
With some wit, sprinkled with intelligent analysis and colorful English words, the book, 'Johnson's Life of London' could well become a history buffs classic and a London visitors guidebook.
Although it's a fast-paced read, I had to put on the brakes occasionally to visit Wikipedia and find out more about the events, paintings and people Mr Johnson covers.
Overall, the book describes what a significant role London and it’s citizens have played in the world of geopolitics, language and culture, and who better to write it than the cities colorful champion, Boris Johnson.
August 7, 2012
I had received a free review copy of this book a while ago, but put it aside to read during the commercials and boring bits of the Olympics, thinking that it would be easy to pick up and put down. After all, history isn't that suspenseful; we already know how it came out and who won, right? Not quite. When the historian is London's charismatic and outrageous mayor, what we get is history as I've never read it before.
In addition to the usual historical greats you would expect in any history of London, Johnson offers us vignettes of some of the less widely known characters who contributed to the life of the city. I had never heard, for instance, of Robert Hook. Most people have heard of Christopher Wren, the great architect who designed many famous London buildings. But after the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed much of the city, it was Hook's designs, not Wren's, that determined the future layout of the city. Despite his contributions to science and architecture, his fame didn't even last his lifetime. Johnson relates Hook's death in 1703, "Alone and wretched and covered with lice, with a reputation as a sexually peculiar old miser."
And what's the story with Boudica? This tribal queen, enraged because the Roman garrison in London had killed her husband and raped her daughters, burned the city to the ground and butchered any inhabitants she and her warriors could lay hands on. Londoners honored her with a beautiful statue which still stands on the bank of the Thames. The emperor Hadrian, who rebuilt the city after her tantrum, had his statue tossed into the river. The city is obviously pretty tough on its saviors.
If you want a lively, witty tour guide to provide an immersive accompaniment to your Olympic viewing in either London or your living room, you might want to take Boris Johnson along. He's very good company indeed. Wherever you watch, enjoy the rest of London's Olympics this summer.
In addition to the usual historical greats you would expect in any history of London, Johnson offers us vignettes of some of the less widely known characters who contributed to the life of the city. I had never heard, for instance, of Robert Hook. Most people have heard of Christopher Wren, the great architect who designed many famous London buildings. But after the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed much of the city, it was Hook's designs, not Wren's, that determined the future layout of the city. Despite his contributions to science and architecture, his fame didn't even last his lifetime. Johnson relates Hook's death in 1703, "Alone and wretched and covered with lice, with a reputation as a sexually peculiar old miser."
And what's the story with Boudica? This tribal queen, enraged because the Roman garrison in London had killed her husband and raped her daughters, burned the city to the ground and butchered any inhabitants she and her warriors could lay hands on. Londoners honored her with a beautiful statue which still stands on the bank of the Thames. The emperor Hadrian, who rebuilt the city after her tantrum, had his statue tossed into the river. The city is obviously pretty tough on its saviors.
If you want a lively, witty tour guide to provide an immersive accompaniment to your Olympic viewing in either London or your living room, you might want to take Boris Johnson along. He's very good company indeed. Wherever you watch, enjoy the rest of London's Olympics this summer.
February 23, 2013
When Boris Johnson shambled out at a handover ceremony at the Olympics beside the dapper Chinese gentleman, I thought, "So here's the mayor of London. Like a big bear from a tatty circus". Then we returned to London in 2012;I heard and saw more of him (and "Boris bikes", good deal!).I found him thoughtful, well spoken, and very bright.
My local library has a trio of shelves by the back door to sell donations that won't be in the collection; I snagged this erudite and witty jewel for a $1.00 tops, if not .50. I read it like a serialized Dickens or Thackeray novel: Johnson talks about famous (but not all well known on this side of the Atlantic) people (and places, oh the places!),in chronological order.An introduction featuring the London Bridge;then to Boadicea, up to Sir Keith Richards and beyond, to the Midland Grand Hotel.How they got to be so well known. Dick Whittington and his alleged cat is in there. How they are tied in to London, and the affects they (and London, truly 'the city that made the world' to Johnson) had on the rest of the world. Boris (or minions) did their research:while there are many facts presented, one is not beaten over the head with the author's erudition. The chatty style helps. Pick a section of The Smoke, and Johnson has an anecdote or behind-the-scenes story for that area.
Wonderful stuff, recommended for people who have been (or will go)to London, The reader will be entertained and informed by the bike riding (best way to get to know an area) Mayor Boris Johnson's book.
My local library has a trio of shelves by the back door to sell donations that won't be in the collection; I snagged this erudite and witty jewel for a $1.00 tops, if not .50. I read it like a serialized Dickens or Thackeray novel: Johnson talks about famous (but not all well known on this side of the Atlantic) people (and places, oh the places!),in chronological order.An introduction featuring the London Bridge;then to Boadicea, up to Sir Keith Richards and beyond, to the Midland Grand Hotel.How they got to be so well known. Dick Whittington and his alleged cat is in there. How they are tied in to London, and the affects they (and London, truly 'the city that made the world' to Johnson) had on the rest of the world. Boris (or minions) did their research:while there are many facts presented, one is not beaten over the head with the author's erudition. The chatty style helps. Pick a section of The Smoke, and Johnson has an anecdote or behind-the-scenes story for that area.
Wonderful stuff, recommended for people who have been (or will go)to London, The reader will be entertained and informed by the bike riding (best way to get to know an area) Mayor Boris Johnson's book.
October 9, 2017
I picked this up because I love British history and the organization of the book - each chapter is about a distinct historical figure and time period - really appealed to me. The problem is that the book is less about academic history and more about how in love Johnson is with his privileged education (which he mentions more than a few times throughout the course of the narrative).
There are some interesting anecdotes in the book, and occasionally the author’s sense of humour shines through, but I find it hard to believe that someone so highly educated would produce an historical study without a bibliography of any kind. Leading this reader to question more than a few facts. Take this reference to the fourteenth century for example: “Money encouraged thieves, prostitution and strange entertainments, like the podicinists, the professional farters whose skill Chaucer found so amusing.” (P.57) I want this to be true, but when I used the highly advanced research tool commonly known as Googling, the only references were to the book in question.
I also enjoyed Johnson’s glossing over of London’s role in sports of all kinds, citing the Olympics, football, and even hockey (insert horrified Canadian gasp!). “On it went through the nineteenth century, as sport after sport was codified in Britain - usually London.” (P. 207) It is sweeping unsubstantiated claims like this that convince me the majority of this book may in fact be complete and utter B.S. By times entertaining, occasionally erudite, almost always self-serving, academic fare this is not.
There are some interesting anecdotes in the book, and occasionally the author’s sense of humour shines through, but I find it hard to believe that someone so highly educated would produce an historical study without a bibliography of any kind. Leading this reader to question more than a few facts. Take this reference to the fourteenth century for example: “Money encouraged thieves, prostitution and strange entertainments, like the podicinists, the professional farters whose skill Chaucer found so amusing.” (P.57) I want this to be true, but when I used the highly advanced research tool commonly known as Googling, the only references were to the book in question.
I also enjoyed Johnson’s glossing over of London’s role in sports of all kinds, citing the Olympics, football, and even hockey (insert horrified Canadian gasp!). “On it went through the nineteenth century, as sport after sport was codified in Britain - usually London.” (P. 207) It is sweeping unsubstantiated claims like this that convince me the majority of this book may in fact be complete and utter B.S. By times entertaining, occasionally erudite, almost always self-serving, academic fare this is not.
August 12, 2012
This is an entertaining and engrossing read. Boris Johnson provides us with 18 historical vignettes of London by focusing on 16 persons who embody the spirit of London and who illustrate London's influence on the wider world, bookended by two tales of London landmarks - London Bridge and the Midland Grand Hotel.
Each vignette is told in chronological order, and the 16 tales of well-known Londoners are interspersed with small musings on significant objects created in London such as the flusing toilet and the King James Bible.
Boris Johnson is an excellent writer and very knowledgeable and well educated. This happy combination of talents means that he can pepper his tales with interesting facts and draw parallels and comparisons with wider events. His vignettes are not hagiographic but present his subjects warts and all.
His subject choices are not all obvious. Alongside the expected ones such as William the Conqueror, Shakespeare & Churchill, he gives us Mellitus, Roman Bishop to London who built the first Christian shrine to St. Paul on the site of the present day cathedral, and Mary Seacole, black nurse and contemporary of Florence Nightingale who also nursed during the Crimean War and was as famous as the Lady with the Lamp in her day.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and my enjoyment was only enhanced by the fact that the London Olympics were beamed into my living room every day showing that wonderful vibrant and lively city looking its very best.
Each vignette is told in chronological order, and the 16 tales of well-known Londoners are interspersed with small musings on significant objects created in London such as the flusing toilet and the King James Bible.
Boris Johnson is an excellent writer and very knowledgeable and well educated. This happy combination of talents means that he can pepper his tales with interesting facts and draw parallels and comparisons with wider events. His vignettes are not hagiographic but present his subjects warts and all.
His subject choices are not all obvious. Alongside the expected ones such as William the Conqueror, Shakespeare & Churchill, he gives us Mellitus, Roman Bishop to London who built the first Christian shrine to St. Paul on the site of the present day cathedral, and Mary Seacole, black nurse and contemporary of Florence Nightingale who also nursed during the Crimean War and was as famous as the Lady with the Lamp in her day.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and my enjoyment was only enhanced by the fact that the London Olympics were beamed into my living room every day showing that wonderful vibrant and lively city looking its very best.
February 28, 2019
Johnson's Life of London is a book that shows the history of one of the world's greatest cities by giving brief biographies on people who shaped the city. The book starts out with the Romans, expanding their empire to the British Isles and then ends with modern times, circa the 2000s. Some chapters have little tidbits put in them about an invention that changed the world such as the flushing toilet. Overall, Johnson is trying to prove to the reader that London should be considered a city that made and changed the world like Rome and Athens before it.
I enjoyed that this book showed the stories of some people that I did not even know or ones that I would probably not research into before. (Remember, I am an American reader, so I may not be familiar with some people throughout European history.) I liked how this book did go into some of the early Britons and how they felt about the Romans coming on to their island, I had never read into that before. I wish we could have got more on the country before even then but I understand there is not a lot to go off of. This book did give me some ideas of people I would like to read historical fiction novels on. My one complaint is that the further into the book I got the chapters seemed to drag on and on but again it is likely, because we do have more facts on people and countries the further we go into history. I highly recommend this book if you have traveled to the great city of London or are interested in English history.
I enjoyed that this book showed the stories of some people that I did not even know or ones that I would probably not research into before. (Remember, I am an American reader, so I may not be familiar with some people throughout European history.) I liked how this book did go into some of the early Britons and how they felt about the Romans coming on to their island, I had never read into that before. I wish we could have got more on the country before even then but I understand there is not a lot to go off of. This book did give me some ideas of people I would like to read historical fiction novels on. My one complaint is that the further into the book I got the chapters seemed to drag on and on but again it is likely, because we do have more facts on people and countries the further we go into history. I highly recommend this book if you have traveled to the great city of London or are interested in English history.
Read
October 30, 2012Certainly a more charming book than the Partridge-esque epic of self-justification recently produced by another noted London politician, and one which also reveals a lot about its author. Who, needless to say, I don't agree with all the time - particularly as regards bankers, but even then he deflects some of one's ire by referring to the current sentiments as "a bit 1381". The style is something like Bertie Wooster attempting to emulate Gibbon, and the overriding impression is of a man in love with the city's history - bunking over walls to explore the remnants of King Alfred's port, blagging his way into Churchill's chair and then feeling a bit sheepish about it. Perhaps the strongest chapters are those on the 18th century, and in particular on two great adversaries, John Wilkes and Samuel Johnson - and for all their differences, you sense Johnson, B sees himself as some sort of compound of the two. He's not *that* good, but compared to the spiteful minnows who have seized his party, there's something in the comparison.
August 24, 2015
Much like his Churchill book, Johnson's history of London is a breezy, anecdotal tour through the highs and lows of London history. A people person to the end, he focuses the narrative through individual historical figures, from Boudica and Alfred the Great to William Shakespeare and Keith Richards.
This is a great strategy early on, when London was small enough that Johnson's favorite historical figures had a big impact on it. (Boudica burned the place to the ground, after all, and it's hard to outdo that.) The approach breaks down a little near the end, though, when London simply gets too big to be defined by one person. Keith Richards is cool, and I ended up getting his autobiography based on Johnson's mention, it seems like a stretch to call him out as THE epitome of London in the sixties and seventies.
The book is never less than entertaining, though, and and Johnson's love of his city shines through. I wish every journalist / politician / amateur historian was this much fun to read.
This is a great strategy early on, when London was small enough that Johnson's favorite historical figures had a big impact on it. (Boudica burned the place to the ground, after all, and it's hard to outdo that.) The approach breaks down a little near the end, though, when London simply gets too big to be defined by one person. Keith Richards is cool, and I ended up getting his autobiography based on Johnson's mention, it seems like a stretch to call him out as THE epitome of London in the sixties and seventies.
The book is never less than entertaining, though, and and Johnson's love of his city shines through. I wish every journalist / politician / amateur historian was this much fun to read.
March 25, 2018
A couple of years ago I picked up Johnson's short biography of Winston Churchill in the London airport. When I found this Life of London marked way down at a local book fair, I couldn't resist. Johnson is witty and funny and populates the book with a mix of British and American slang that keeps you on your toes. The biographical sketches are specific enough to give the reader a feel for the person but he also generalizes from the person to the person's "thing" and then expands on that. As an example he describes Dick Whittington, without the cat too much, as mayor of London and then banker and philanthropist and teaches about the dualistic nature of London- The City of Bankers and Westminster, the city of government.
Side note- Boris Johnson has gone from journalist to mayor of London to Foreign Secretary and as I write this is dealing with the latest Russian poisoning episode on British soil (ties to Putin Country and the other three).
And the first few chapters about the Romans tie to some of my other recent reading about SPQR days.
Side note- Boris Johnson has gone from journalist to mayor of London to Foreign Secretary and as I write this is dealing with the latest Russian poisoning episode on British soil (ties to Putin Country and the other three).
And the first few chapters about the Romans tie to some of my other recent reading about SPQR days.
September 7, 2012
Had this book via audible as an Audio book.
The book is about a third read by Boris Johnston and two thirds by a professional reader. While Boris is an extremely competent narrator, he brings his usual style to it as well, with phones going off in the background, police sirens and also sounds of pages being turned in his notes. While I was initially disappointed that a professional reader then took over, it did make a huge difference to the story as I started to concentrate on the details of it and not on Boris.
As for the book itself it is an excellent and detailed story of London from Boudica, Romans, Dick Whittington, Chaucer and many other people and events that have built up the history of the great city of London. If you live or are interested in London then this book either in paperback, eBook or Audio would be a great investment.
The book is about a third read by Boris Johnston and two thirds by a professional reader. While Boris is an extremely competent narrator, he brings his usual style to it as well, with phones going off in the background, police sirens and also sounds of pages being turned in his notes. While I was initially disappointed that a professional reader then took over, it did make a huge difference to the story as I started to concentrate on the details of it and not on Boris.
As for the book itself it is an excellent and detailed story of London from Boudica, Romans, Dick Whittington, Chaucer and many other people and events that have built up the history of the great city of London. If you live or are interested in London then this book either in paperback, eBook or Audio would be a great investment.
January 23, 2015
Delightful, entertaining, and witty. Johnson's love letter to London is a must-read for any Anglophile. He stakes a bold claim for why London is the world's most influential city and backs up his claim with well-researched, often amusing biographical snippets of some of London's most famous citizens. For example, the book recounts an incident in the life of Samuel Johnson where the getting-on-in-years erudite Johnson is awakened in the middle of the night by pranksters, threatens to bodily thrash the noisemakers, instead joins them in a pub, drinks heartily, and finishes the evening by rowing a rowboat out on the Thames. Boris Johnson's take on Samuel Johnson's behavior? "An inspiration to us all." A lovely snapshot of London through the lives of its most outré citizens, past and present.
February 16, 2016
The London Mayor tells the story of his city through the men and women, plus a few inanimate objects, who have shaped it. This is no duty history. Boris Johnson brings to it a wide range of reading and an irreverent enthusiasm - it is a winning combination.
From Budicca to Keith Richards, by way of Alfred the Great, Dick Wittington,Thomas Hook ("the greatest inventor you've never head of") and J M W Turner, with diversions into Bazalgette's sewers and the very grand Midland Grand hotel, Boris mixes anecdote with polemic with little-known facts that will surprise and delight many who are pleased to call it home and many more who will know it only from these beguiling pages.
Perhaps too joyously ride in places to serve as a text book, Johnson's London will bea splendid memorial to both author and subject.
From Budicca to Keith Richards, by way of Alfred the Great, Dick Wittington,Thomas Hook ("the greatest inventor you've never head of") and J M W Turner, with diversions into Bazalgette's sewers and the very grand Midland Grand hotel, Boris mixes anecdote with polemic with little-known facts that will surprise and delight many who are pleased to call it home and many more who will know it only from these beguiling pages.
Perhaps too joyously ride in places to serve as a text book, Johnson's London will bea splendid memorial to both author and subject.
August 3, 2012
I saw an interview with Boris Johnson, the current Mayor of London and thought this sounded like an interesting book...especially for an anglophile like me! Not sure what I expected but I was afraid it might be a bit dull, at least in spots. Not at all, for me! Mr. Johnson takes us from pre-Roman London to modern times, discussing history from a different point of view. For example, the Peasant's Revolt is seen more or less as Chaucer, who lived at this time, would have seen it from the windows of his flat. For me, this gives the book increased interest and flavor. Every chapter is witty, pithy and not in the least pedantic.
If you love England, whether Brit or American, I can highly recommend this book!
August 27, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wrote this book. He began his career as a journalist and he's very entertaining. (He's the guy with the tousled blonde hair who rides his bicycle around the City; made the news during Olympic Games by getting stuck on the zipline as you might recall).
He profiles the lives of a number of famous people who, while based in London, impacted the entire world. He begins with the warrior queen Boudicea who battled the Romans, and finishes with his favorite Rolling Stone, Keith Richards. In between he takes on Hadrian, Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Dick Whittington, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Florence Nightingale, Winston Churchill, and more.
The man loves his city, and his passion shines through with humor and respect.
He profiles the lives of a number of famous people who, while based in London, impacted the entire world. He begins with the warrior queen Boudicea who battled the Romans, and finishes with his favorite Rolling Stone, Keith Richards. In between he takes on Hadrian, Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Dick Whittington, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Florence Nightingale, Winston Churchill, and more.
The man loves his city, and his passion shines through with humor and respect.
January 7, 2013
Good fun. A breezy, wry account of various people who made London the great metropolis it has become.
Most of the people covered are pretty familiar. (Shakespeare, Chaucer), some less so (Mary Seacole, for example, a contemporary of Florence Nightingale, and a rival for her fame). Some of the best chapters are on the figures who might not be household names. The complementary chapters dealing with tory Samuel Johnson and radical John Wilkes are particularly fine.
Some chapters are better than others. The chapter on Keith Richards seems a little too awestruck in tone. Also, the lack of a chapter on Charles Dickens seems a largish omission.
Overall, an enjoyable read. Nice capsules of history, entertainingly put forth.
Most of the people covered are pretty familiar. (Shakespeare, Chaucer), some less so (Mary Seacole, for example, a contemporary of Florence Nightingale, and a rival for her fame). Some of the best chapters are on the figures who might not be household names. The complementary chapters dealing with tory Samuel Johnson and radical John Wilkes are particularly fine.
Some chapters are better than others. The chapter on Keith Richards seems a little too awestruck in tone. Also, the lack of a chapter on Charles Dickens seems a largish omission.
Overall, an enjoyable read. Nice capsules of history, entertainingly put forth.
January 25, 2013
Informative in an eclectic way, and humorous. Johnson is the Mayor of London, which explains his bold sub-title. He is a promoter. The book follows the people that Johnson thinks most influential in the founding and evolution of London, from Queen Boadicea to Winston Churchill. While Churchill is Johnson's hero, Johnson selects intriguing people who are relatively little-known but who deserve to be better-known, for example the person who had the brainstorm to develop the first underground sewer system flushed regularly by the Thames. That achievement did as much to expand and enhance the city as any other development, except perhaps the underground train or 'tube' that used the sewer tunnels as a model.
Read
February 2, 2013Boris isn't everyone's cup of tea - I'm sure on that we can all agree. And I am sure my view of him is at least partially based on the fact that he isn't in a position to impact my life in any significant way as he would be if I lived in London.
But I don't and so he doesn't and I can take great pleasure in the humor and enthusiasm of his writing. Boris seems to take great joy in discovering things about the place and sharing them with as many words as possible (he must have been weaned on a thesaurus).
A fun, quick read. A deep read? No. If you want deep, grab an actually history book. But it's spot on for an amusing way to kill a few hours on a plane without having to wade through yet another "by the book" mystery of "chick lit by the numbers."
But I don't and so he doesn't and I can take great pleasure in the humor and enthusiasm of his writing. Boris seems to take great joy in discovering things about the place and sharing them with as many words as possible (he must have been weaned on a thesaurus).
A fun, quick read. A deep read? No. If you want deep, grab an actually history book. But it's spot on for an amusing way to kill a few hours on a plane without having to wade through yet another "by the book" mystery of "chick lit by the numbers."
July 30, 2013
I picked this up to get revved for the 2012 Summer Olympics. While not quite as lively as the history pageant rolled out for the opening ceremony (the Q and James Bond jumping from a helicopter?), the Cambridge-trained historian and bleached mop-topped mayor of London, has written a witty and quirky chronicle. It's organized around unforgettable characters, from a pre-Roman Queen Boudica to Keith Richards, and includes my favorite, Samuel Johnson, who, along with Boswell, would have found Boris a lively pub companion. It goes on my shelf next to Peter Ackroyd's 800-page London, a Biography to dip into again since I agree with Johnson (Samuel) that "When a man is tired of London, he's tired of life."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews