The Great Fire of London: The Essential Guide

by Adrian Tinniswood

2 SEPTEMBER 1666: 350 YEARS SINCE THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

In the early hours of 2 September 1666 a small fire broke out in a bakery in Pudding Lane. In the five days that followed it grew into a conflagration that would devastate the third largest city in the Western world.

This short edition is the essential guide to the Great Fire of London and includes first-hand descriptions from the diaries of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn, as well as a gripping account from renowned historian Adrian Tinniswood.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

113 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 18, 2016

About the author

Adrian John Tinniswood OBE FSA (born 11 October 1954) is an English writer and historian. He is currently Professor of English Social History at the University of Buckingham.

Tinniswood studied English and Philosophy at Southampton University and was awarded an MPhil at Leicester University.

Tinniswood has often acted as a consultant to the National Trust, and has lectured at several universities including the University of Oxford and the University of California, Berkeley.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

You didn't have to call out the guy who died on the toilet like that

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the Essential Guide series, Tinniswood gives a brief overview of the events of September 1666. Good introduction to the tragedy if you don't know much about it. Well-written and presented with maps and images.

[Claer Barber · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short quick read, giving a brief but concise account of the main events 354 years ago. I read this mainly to gauge whether or not to read his other book on the fire "By Permission of Heaven" at a later date, as I don't read a lot of history. Certainly has piquet my interest.

[Kristy W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick easy read, just 100 pages. Ends before London rebuilds, you’ll have to read his full-length book for that. Ends with excerpts from Samuel Pepys’ diary, which always crack me up (talking about monitoring the fire but eating a bad venison pasty, or carting his gold down the street in his nightgown. I love that guy).

[Paul Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short summary of the momentus events of 2-5th September 1666 and its aftermath. Extracts from John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys's diaries show how dependent history has been upon those two chroniclers (Thomas Vincent also gets name checked).

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting quick refresh on a key event in British history. Written in an approachable way but surprisingly in depth.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little read, very snappy and quick! I liked the inclusion of contemporary diaries at the end.

[Iben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and easy to read

[Allen He · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book from an exhibition in the Museum of London 3 years ago. A succinct account of the great fire of London in 1666. The summary was quite good and the details were depicted very well. However, the extracts from two diaries were quite unnecessary in nature and were written in 16th century Colloquial English, which was very hard to read. Although i finished it, I would suggest you to skip that part.