It was to be the day the American President drove in state through the streets of the UK’s capital city.
But the lethal combination of a gigantic freak storm and an unusually high tide launch a devastating thirty-foot surge of water up the Thames.
By the middle of the morning London’s streets are already under several feet of water – and the level is still rising.
What follows is a catastrophe on an unimaginable scale.
Homes are swept away by an unprecedented wave of destruction. A power station explodes like a bomb. Parts of the city are flooded to a depth of twenty feet. Countless lives are lost. And there is yet more water to come.
Told with chilling and rigorous detail, Deluge is a terrifyingly convincing imagining of London’s ultimate nightmare scenario. Read it if you dare!
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Richard "Dickie" Doyle (September 1824 –11 December 1883) was a notable illustrator of the Victorian era. His work frequently appeared, amongst other places, in Punch magazine; he drew the cover of the first issue, and designed the magazine's masthead, a design that was used for over a century.
Born at 17 Cambridge Terrace, London, one of seven children of Irish cartoonist John Doyle (known as 'H.B'), a noted political caricaturist, two of his brothers, James and Charles, were also artists. The young Doyle had no formal art training other than his father's studio, but from an early age displayed a gifted ability to depict scenes of the fantastic and grotesque. Throughout his life he was fascinated by fairy tales. He produced his first complete illustrated book, Home for the Holidays, when he was 12; it was published posthumously in 1887.
He joined the staff of Punch in 1843 aged 19, remaining there for seven years. His iconic cover for the Punch magazine was used for many years after his death.
He produced 11 books of his own between 1840 and 1887, his last five being published posthumously, as well as illustrating many for other authors including Thackeray, Mark Lemon and Ruskin.
He exhibited regularly at the Grosvenour Galleries and also at the Royal Academy in 1868 and 1871.
He was the uncle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
A lot of well researched detailed information of what a flooded London would look like. But terrible dialogue. People don’t speak like this and I found it grating and irritating.
Interesting book, but be forewarned; this book was written in 1973 and was just republished in 2024. I suppose it's fine as a period piece, but I was fooled by the publishing date and was surprised at the absence of things like computers, cell phones, etc.
As a Londoner I can say the danger of a flood prior to the building of the Thames Barrier was not recognised so this book was a very frightening read. !
I so enjoyed this book, it was so well written and the source material was excellent, It’s made me think how our protocols are not acceptable in the event of a flood in London, too many agencies moving in different directions, not listening to each other, Politicians not coming together and not overriding political difference to save the people of London. The thought of the damage is almost beyond comprehension, the human and damage would be in the thousands and billions. London could not be put back together within 10 years meaning business would look elsewhere to do there billion pound business. Deaths would be confining after the flood due to illnesses from the sludge and silt and sewage that has covered London, A very well thought out scenario, 5 stars .excellent read