Customer Reviews

London: A Life in Maps

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Peter Whitfield's "London, A Life in Maps" is a must-read for anyone with an interest in, and/or love for, Britain's capital city. Having lived in London for three years in the 1970's, and returned many times since, I found the maps, drawings, photos, and text enthralling, shedding light on innumerable aspects of the city that previously were unknown to me. What an incredible amount of research Peter Whitfield has done, and how brilliantly he presents it. The book would make a superb gift for any Anglophile or student of English history.

The British Library published this beautiful book of maps of London. The reproductions of maps and plans are enhanced with engravings, paintings and photographs. Peter Whitfield's commentary for each map is informative and engaging. Each map stands alone, but taken as a whole the book presents a panorama of a great city.

A few of my many favorites include:

Caesar's Camp called "the Brill" located just outside St. Pancras on the River Fleet just outside London.

Matthew Paris's 1250-54 diagram from London Bridge ('pons Lond.') and the Thames ('Tamise'), through Rochester and Canterbury to Dover, then crossing the sea ('La Mer') and reaching France.

A 1593 guide for Cuntrey men In the famous Cittey of LONDON.

Section and Plan of a Gateway to Westminster at Hyde Park Corner, 1778.

Plan of a Proposed TURNPIKE ROAD From St. JOHN'S CHAPEL, ST. MARYLEBONE into the Great North Road Near the 8 Mile Stone at Finchley, 1824.

A small sample of Whitfield's prose: "Between 1850 and 1945 London changed beyond recognition as a result of the interplay between population pressures, novel means of transport, a revolution in building techniques, and a new leisure ethos. By the early 20th century there were a variety of Londons. Buildings spread deep into the countryside until Green Belt legislation was passed to save what remained. Distinct types of suburb developed. Ramblers took advantage of the remaining commons, heaths and woods around London. And those two icons of modern London, the A-Z and the Underground map, were created."

The book is a delight to hold and to study. Even better, the British Library has mounted an interactive exhibit of 40 the 100 maps in this book. And, many of the maps are available for sale in the Library's shop.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Now and then, I come across a book which I quickly discover must be opened with care, and not when any other responsibilities are pressing, because it will prove almost impossible to put down. Whitfield's marvelous cartographic treatment of the history since the 16th century of one of the western world's premiere cities is just such a book. Along with chronology, maps are one of the key adjuncts in the study of history, visualizing and placing in context the relationships between events of the past. Whitfield is a well-known expert in the history of exploration and of maps, and he provides here a guided tour of London's development since the mid-16th century, when the first maps of the city began to appear. They were really "views," with elevations of buildings, and designed with a low point-of-view, not the schematic plan from directly overhead of the modern urban street map, but they get the point across: London, while already one of the largest cities in Europe, was tiny by today's standards. The Strand was almost a country lane connecting the City of the London with Westminster, upriver. Spitalfield was still the open land before St. Mary's Hospital, just outside Bishopsgate -- which was still a gate in the city walls. And because of the Great Fire and the complete loss of the old wooden city, these early maps are our best source for what medieval London really looked like. In fact, the Fire itself gave impetus to the development of urban cartography, as an aid in rebuilding the city. In addition to early plans of the major thoroughfares, certain important buildings and districts also drew attention, including Henry VIII's Whitehall Palace -- now completely replaced, except for the Banqueting Hall, by the machinery of modern government -- and the new developments at Covent Garden, Grosvenor Square, and the other elite foci of the West End which the nobility built from their estates (and from which most of them amassed enormous fortunes). The building of sprawling docks downriver to accommodate London's vast international trade were of cartographic interest as early as 1700. The volume continues through the Hanoverian dynasty and the Victorian era, following the City's ever-outward expansion, the incorporation of older villages, the establishment of entirely new suburbs, the desertion by the gentry of much of the inner city, the covering over of London's numerous small rivers, and the building of thoroughfares like Marylebone Road to accommodate the boom in commercial traffic. Many of these projects, moreover, were private initiatives, proposed with profit in mind; taxpayer-funded public works didn't become important until much later in the 19th century. Railways, factories, commercial cemeteries, green spaces, tenements, the Great Exhibition -- Whitfield covers them all. And he ends with the establishment of the London County Council, the transport revolution, and the great commercial boom that followed World War II, threatening to destroy and replace what little of the pre-modern city remained. This book, a perfect combination of absorbing information and visual delight, is almost a mandatory acquisition for anyone who studies modern British history, or who simply loves London. The city's biography resides in its maps.

I have been studying London history as a hobby, and was so excited when I found this book. The one thing that has been missing from many of the research books I've purchased is maps of the city and neighborhoods. The problem with this book is that some (not all) of the maps are printed so small that they are impossible to read. The book is filled with great information, so I recommend buying it if you are an enthusiast. But if you intend to look closely at the maps, then order a magnifying glass along with this book.

this is a handsome, entertaining and informative overview of the history of london from the late renaissance through modern times, animated by documentary representations of the city. the title is misleading, in that maps form only part of the visual narrative: we're also shown architectural engravings, landscape panoramas, historical paintings, literary illustrations, aerial photographs and other "views" of london. the text is usually arranged as one or two columns beside or facing the visual evidence, and is generally well written and anecdotal. this is an ideal book for young and old interested in english history, cartography, or urban development, and for anyone visiting london with enough time to really explore the city's museums and monuments. (my traveler tip: i encountered this book in the victoria & albert museum bookstore, and reserved it on amazon for delivery back home.)

i have several minor reservations about this edition. the quality of the reproductions and illustrations varies widely; the contrast or resolution of some maps or images is so low that they are effectively illegible (doré engravings, p.156; spurrier & phipps plan, p. 121; london railway, p.132; paddington parish, p.134; etc.), and some are jpeg files with compression artifacts (charing cross, p.136) or badly rescreened halftone images that produce moire patterns (wren's plan, p.118). (yes, the editorial difficulties in compiling images from so many sources were considerable ... but all the same.) the sewn binding is, for a trade paperback, superbly robust, but this makes it very difficult to open the book flat to examine the (many) maps printed across facing pages. i also regretted the lack of an archaeological or reconstruction map of roman and medieval london (the narrative starts in 1550), a synoptic map showing the gradually expanding urban limits, and a double page map of existing buildings, keyed by color to the period in which they were built.

"London: A Life in Maps" is absolutely the best tour through the history of London a student, a reader, or a historian could take.

I have always loved a novel that opens with a map. Here's a book that illustrates the changing city through the centuries and the decades.

Imagining the time of the Romans, of Shakespeare, of Queen Victoria is now easier with this handy resource.

I am writing a novel about 1760-1790 in London. This book shows many of the roads as they were in those times as well as the changes the architects imagined after the Great Fire.

First rate research.

There are a lot of books about London out there, but this one is different: it offers a history of the development of the city through the eyes of centuries worth of chroniclers and mapmakers. While perhaps not as romantically storied as other books on the city, "London: A Life in Maps" does the best job of any book I've read in explaining how, and why, the city crew beyond its Roman walled boundaries, and how the socio/economic/religious changes that occurred over the centuries have enacted those changes. Of particular interest is the way the various maps and drawings chart how city's structural anchor--the Tower of London--has physically changed over time. Anyone interested in modern-day London might be disappointed here, since the book gives very short (and rather disrespectful) shrift to changes that have occurred in London since the Blitz, history buffs should love it.

Two things I love: historical maps and London - in one book.
It's a good mix of maps/graphics and supporting historical text - easy to read, not dry and organised by themes.
If you love maps and have an interest in the history and development of London, you really should buy this.

I was surprised by the good (physical) quality of the book too, as it seemed relatively inexpensive compared to similar books.

Having lived in London as a child, I found this book almost nostalgic. The maps are very detailed with excellent photos and illustrations; however, it is not just a collection of maps showing London through the ages, but a social & economic history of why and how the London landscape has changed and will continue to change while preserving the older historical areas. This book is a must for anyone who loves London or who just wants to know more about the greatest city in the world!