Access London 8th Edition (Access Guides) [Paperback]

Richard Saul Wurman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Access Guides | Publication Date: March 26, 2002

For those in search of the many facets of London, Access London is the ultimate guide. Comprehensive, fully updated and filled with revised maps, sidebars and points of interest, it brings to life this bustling center of culture, history and commerce with that requisite touch of class and the promise to acquaint you royally with its character and charm.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

With the publication of his first book in 1962 at the age of 26, Richard Saul Wurman began the singular passion of his life: that of making information understandable. A holder of both M. Arch. & B. Arch. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, he has been awarded several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Graham Fellowships & two Chandler Fellowships. In 1991, Richard Saul Wurman received the Kevin Lynch Award from MIT for his creation of the ACCESS travel guides. In 1994, he was named a Fellow of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland & awarded a Doctorate of Fine Arts by the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. In 1995, he received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Art Center College of Design & was Chairman of Graphic Design & Product/Industrial Design of the1995 Presidential Design Awards.

Richard Saul Wurman continues to be a regular consultant to major corporations in matters relating to the design & understanding of information. He is married to novelist Gloria Nagy, has 4 children & lives in Newport, Rhode Island.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Orientation

A provincial settlement on the edge of the civilized world; a trading district dominated by merchants and aldermen; a royal stronghold; a center of politics, power, and culture ... London has had almost as many faces as it has years of history. England's capital and Britain's seat of government has evolved over the centuries from an area covering just 677 acres into a vast 620-square-mile metropolis along the north and south banks of the River Thames, home to seven million citizens.

Indeed, London is not one but several cities coexisting in the same space. Look up at Big Ben on a bright autumn morning, or stroll along the Embankment on a warm summer evening at sunset and you'll find the London of film sets, complete with red double-decker buses, chunky black cabs, and umbrella-toting politicians. Look closer, and catch a glimpse of local London, comprising 32 highly individual boroughs, each with its own mayor and council, not to mention its own special quirks and charms. An elegant town house atmosphere permeates Mayfair, for example, while the literary legacy of Virginia Woolf's era clings to Bloomsbury. To the east, finance still dominates the original City, or Corporation, of London; meanwhile, law and politics rule sober Westminster.

Of course, there is also historic London, seat of cathedrals and kings. The city was established roughly 2,000 years ago, first as a Celtic settlement, then as Londinium, a lonely Roman outpost that eventually grew into the hub of an empire extending around the globe. The city is a survivor, having outlasted a whole series of catastrophes: Queen Boadicea of the Celts burned the city to the ground in AD 61, but within a few years it had risen from the ashes; the Great Plague swept through in 1665, followed by the Great Fire of 1666, but neither disaster nor the 20th-century Blitz could annihilate the city's collective soul or the souls of its inhabitants past and present. Famous ghosts from every epoch cohabit here-in just one day you may happen upon Henry VIII or Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London, William Shakespear in Southwark, and Charles Dickens in Tavistock Square. Even modern redevelopment plans have failed to tarnish London's grandeur: St. Paul' s Cathedral retains its majesty, despite the cheerless and now derelict glass and-steel structures that now crowd it on Paternoster Square.

But no city thrives on its past alone. Modern London stands tall, in the spaceage Lloyd's of London Building, in the high-tech Docklands developments, and in the best of con-temporary art and theater, as well as in the fast-food joints that have cropped up on various corners. "Modern British" describes the inventive, eclectic cooking of a new generation of chefs who base their dishes on British ingredients but draw on the best of international food and flavor combinations, using such seasonings as lemongrass, coriander, white truffle oil, and pairing quail with foie gras and wild mushrooms or monkfish with herb risotto arid tomato confit. Trendy restaurants are booming, and the fashion scene is rated the most exciting in the world by international designers who have opened their flagship stores here. But, to be honest, London also possesses a dark side, with an undercurrent of racial tension in the East End; a class system that produces its own special problems, including stereotypes perpetuated by something as simple as an accent or dialect; the homeless, who huddle under railway bridges; and, of course, crime. The infamous pea-soup fogs have disappeared, but they've been replaced by noxious exhaust fumes arid grime-mostly from cars jamming narrow streets and alleyways never meant to cope with modern-day traffic.

For all its problems, however, the magic of London acts as an elixir for tourists: 27.7 million of them visited in 1998 alone. Some come for the West End musicals; some for the fashion of Bond Street and Knightsbridge; some to wander the spacious parks and meet history face-to-face; others to explore the modern street culture that thrives in tiny art galleries arid pulsates in clubs and discos. Whatever the reason, visitors to London share an affect ion for a city that is at once ancient and modern, reserved and tempestuous - an ever-changing kaleidoscope of a metropolis.

 

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperResource; 8th edition (March 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060938315
• ISBN-13: 978-0060938314
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,779,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great guide for the self-directed traveler; highly recommend, September 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Access London 6e (6th Edition) (Paperback)

I came across the Access London book before traveling to London this year. [Note: I also had the Frommer's and Let's Go books too.] Access quickly became my London "companion". Organizing the information by neighborhood made it easier to plan my days and "explore" a different area each day! The reviews are very accurate and lively written. Perhaps the best feature is it's "off the beaten path" quality. The guide effectively balances "tourist favorites" with little gems that are well-kept secrets to all but the most inquisitive travelers. Highly recommended!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have, March 24, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Access London 6e (6th Edition) (Paperback)

Heaven bless the people who took the time to recommend this book. I bought it right after booking my trip and was glad that I did. Having never really travelled before this book made my solo trip to London a rewarding and wonderful experience. I was able to find all of the things that I'd always wanted to see and a few things that I would never have found on my own. I carried it with me constantly and found myself feeling very comfortable getting around. I advise marking the pages of what you want to see before you leave and perhaps making a list. Take the book with you at all times and make full use of the maps it provides. I saw more of the city than I'd ever imagined and had a wonderful time doing it. I firmly believe that without this book my trip wouldn't have been nearly so successful.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best for the rest, September 25, 2001

By 

Stephen McHenry (Olney, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Access London 7e (Paperback)

Any travel guide to London is going to describe the main attractions: The Knopf guide gives the best background and cultural information, the DK guide gives the best maps and "move about town" information. Where the Access guide shows its genius is information about hotels, shops, and restaurants. This is a book to use to plan before going, and slip into your pocket when heading out to the London streets. The hotel descriptions are excellent (in this book I found the Fielding hotel in Covent Garden, everything the book said and a great place). This is the book to study what kind of shopping to do and where the shops are (have a teapot shaped like the Tower of London now). Found a great Turkish restaurnat near the Strand from this book. This is the book that fills in the spaces between the big attractions with the stuff that is fun. It is laid out geographically, so if you are walking from Trafalgar to the British Museum, a look at this book will give excellent, useful, short descriptions of shops and restaurants between the two, so you can take not the fastest path, but the most fun.