Black Plaques London: Memorials to Misadventure

by Ambrose Hide

Black Plaques are not to be found proudly mounted on a wall—and for good reason. What with their commemoration of a brutal execution outside Westminster Abbey, the selling of sex toys in St. James’s Park, and an intruder at Buckingham Palace with Royal undergarments stuffed down his trousers, this is not the sort of historical subject matter authorities choose to grace a building’s façade or depict on a visitor information board. In fact, many people might hope such indecorous and inconvenient episodes remain quietly overlooked. But this book jogs such artful lapses of memory and at 150 locations across London, Black Plaques lift the carefully placed rug to discover a big stain. The unseemly blemishes brought to light recall moments when mankind was not enjoying its finest hour, so there are scenes every reader should find disturbing.

360 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2019

Reviews

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF’ed
Book made up of short stories all about London.
Some of these stories were really interesting, but the other 9 out of 10 weren’t.
Author used some amazing vocabulary. I just struggled to want to pick it up.

[Kieran Delaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a little dry at times, and whilst the lengthy introduction very deliberately sets up the scattershot approach to weaving between stories, I found it slightly discombobulating - I would have preferred a strong thread pulling things together rather than the way people crop up etc.

[Helen Hanschell Pollock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful reference book/guide for the darkside of London addresses, if you know London or think you know London, love the writing style and wry humour.