Lontoo London - kolme kirjaa, three books

Kolme hiukan erikoisempaa kirjaa Lontoon kaupungin historiasta, tarinoista, lotesta. Kirjat ovat uusia, täysin lukemattomia.

London’s Strangest Tales. Tom Quinn. kovakantinen, Portico 2018, 256 sivua. UUSI!

London Lore. The Legends and Traditions of the World’s Most Vibrant City. Steve Roud. Arrow Books 2008, 439 sivua. UUSI!

London in the 19th Century. Jerry White. Vintage 2008, 624 sivua. UUSI!

London’s Strangest Tales takes a walk on London’s weirder side with an absorbing collection of curious tales from one of the world’s greatest cities.

This fascinating book is packed with amazing things you didn’t know about Britain’s capital, like the fact that it’s still forbidden to run, carry an umbrella or whistle in the Burlington Arcade, and the fat lamppost at the corner of Trafalgar Square that is secretly a tiny prison cell. And did you know that the entrance to Buckingham Palace you see from the Mall is actually the back door and not the front? The stories within these pages are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious and, most importantly, true.

This brand new edition, redesigned in splendid hardback for 2018, is a brilliant alternative guide to the city, whether you’re a visitor, a daily commuter or one of its 8 million inhabitants.

London is a city with almost as many ancient legends and deep-rooted customs as it has streets and landmarks, and here a leading folklorist brings together an astonishingly rich selection of them—tales of ghosts and witches; stories about fabled events, heroes, and villains; and accounts of local supersitions and beliefs. Beyond simply retelling these stories it also delves through layers of hearsay and speculation to investigate how and why they arose. In the process, it shows how the story of Dick Whittington and his cat has connections with the ancient Middle East, explains why lions rather than ravens at the Tower of London were once felt to be inextricably bound up with the city’s fate, and pinpoints precisely where the story of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, was first recorded. Exploring everything from local superstitions, to ghost stories, to annual customs, thisis an enchanting guide to the ancient legends and deep-rooted beliefs that can be found the length and breadth of the city.

London in the nineteenth century was the greatest city mankind had ever seen. Its wealth was dazzling. Its horrors shocked the world. As William Blake put it, London was 'a Human awful wonder of God'. It was a century of genius - of Blake, Thackeray and Mayhew, of Nash, Faraday, Disraeli and Dickens. Jerry White's dazzling book is the first in a hundred years to explore London's history over the nineteenth century as a whole. We see the destruction of old London and the city's unparalleled suburban expansion. We see how London absorbed people from all over Britain, from Europe and the Empire. We see how Londoners worked and played. Most of all, we see how they tried to make sense of their city and make it a better place in which to live. Emerging clearly from this eloquent and richly-detailed overview is the London we see about us today.