A History of London in 50 Lives

by David Long

"It is not the walls that make the city, but the people who live within them." — George VIAs George VI so rightly said, it is the loves, schemes, failures, battles, intrigues, and dreams of the people who live in a city that make it what it is. And in a city as vibrant and chaotic as London those lives are going to be quite extraordinary. Seeking to unravel the stories locked within each district, London expert David Long turns to the characters that have defined them. From Nanci Astor, Jimi Hendrix, and Harry Gordon Selfridge’s influence on Mayfair, to Karl Marx on Soho, Charles Darin on Bloomsbury, Virginia Woolf on Fitzrovia, and Polly the Parrot on Spitalfields, A History of London in 50 Lives, is a positive smörgåsbord of the illustrious and notorious.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 20, 2015

About the author

Winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2017, writer and journalist David Long has regularly appeared in The Times and the London Evening Standard, as well as on television and radio. He has written more than 30 books for children and adults and lives in Suffolk.

Reviews

[Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like the title of this book was somewhat misleading. I didn't really get a sense of the history of London. I did get to know about some of the people who have lived there at various stages but it was limited in giving a sense of the context. There were some interesting little facts and it was a very easy read in bite-sized pieces. But... eh... not exciting and not something I'll re-read.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of biographies, the personalities presented in this book make for a concise, informative, and amusing collection of stories. That said, I'm not sure the story of London itself is communicated very pointedly in many of the bios, and a few too many entries come with a hint of smug (dare I say, Tory?) judgmental attitude. A pleasant read, with a few caveats.

[Georgia · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best thing I can say about this book was that it was easy to read. Throughout the book, I felt like I was reading a series of essays written by a group of 4th graders for a class project about historical figures.

Adequate context for most of the 'lives' was lacking, assuming a base level of knowledge about their accomplishments and instead focusing only on their time in London. The language was not at all impartial, disconcerting in a text that is ostensibly historical, and the tenuous premise of providing a 'history of London' was far from realized.

The book was disjointed, poorly rendered, and overall not worth the £10 I paid for it at the Tate Modern gift shop. I also agree with another reviewer that some untoward political leanings tend to appear in the descriptions of select persons.

To end on a positive note: there was some good research about lesser known figures and I appreciated learning more about the London lives of some of the more famous people.

[Robin Dawes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a history of London so much as a collection of engaging vignettes of notable individuals (not all human) who at one point or another had London addresses. The decision to organize the contents geographically would have made more sense if a brief summary of the history of each region had been presented, giving context to the life stories presented. A few scattered facts are offered: we learn that many immigrants from country X settled in neighbourhood Y, for example, but there are too few of these nuggets of information and they are too randomly situated to allow the reader to form any cohesive picture of the history either of the neighbourhoods or of London overall.

The vignettes are well written but the lack of contextual information and the organizational structure make the book much less satisfying than it might have been.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

In A History of London in 50 Lives, David Long takes an alternative approach by detailing the history of the city through the lives of fifty of its inhabitants, some very famous and others less so. His characters come from a good breadth of different eras, different social strata, and different locations within the city. Each of the 50 characters gets 2-4 pages giving a brief account of their life (their life in London, in particular) to give a snapshot of their experience of the city. Of course, a book like this cannot hope to give anything like a properly detailed account of London, but nonetheless it was a nice introduction to engage interest, particularly for people like me who have always struggled with more serious history books. 5/10

[Emily Dennehy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

An interesting look at individuals, some well known and others not so well known, who lived in London over the years.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read providing a new perspective on London and the people that shaped the city.