The Oxford Book of London [Paperback]

Paul Bailey (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 1997

All great cities inspire great literature, but no other city has so consistently stimulated the literary imagination as London. Over the centuries writers, poets, historians, artists, and simple observers have chronicled the life and growth of the capital from its humble beginnings to the teeming metropolis it is today. Beginning in about 1180 with a monk named William Fitzstephen enumerating the delights of the capital, and ending in the present day, The Oxford Book of London offers an unparalleled introduction and tribute to this fascinating city.
Among the many contributors are those whose evocations of the city have forever fixed it in the popular mind. Charles Dickens's descriptions of fogbound London streets, the bustle and hustle of the Victorian city; Ben Jonson's satires on London low life from 1616; William Wordsworth rhapsodizing on the view from Westminster Bridge; George Bernard Shaw's archetypal Cockney, Eliza Doolittle. In his sparkling anthology Paul Bailey has captured the essence of London's allure for visitors and inhabitants--from the Middle Ages to the present day--with wit, humor, and pathos. Armchair travelers, anyone planning to visit London, and those interested in fine writing will gain a sense of the ways in which the city has grown and changed over eight centuries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`an excellent way to see London again through other's eyes ... There are fascinating tit-bits in this anthology' Nine to Five, 25 September 1995

`With its hundred of descriptions of the same city, Bailey's book is comparably eye-opening. Londoners will all find extracts that have special meaning for them and their locality.' John Carey, Sunday Times

`rich and conspicuous cornucopia ... It is the beautiful phrase, and immaculate observation, the record of a singular event that provide the vignettes of past life and people worth recalling that makes his book so enjoyable.' Gerald Isaaman, Ham and High (Hampstead and Highgate Express)

`Paul Bailey, has compiled a varied picture of the high life and the low life of the capital.' Andy Darley, Kilburn Times

`Paul Bailey, has compiled a varied picture of the high life and the low life of the capital.' Andy Darley, Camden and St Pancras Chronicle

`Paul Bailey, has compiled a varied picture of the high life and the low life of the capital.' Andy Darley, Willesden and Brent Chronicle

`Paul Bailey, has compiled a varied picture of the high life and the low life of the capital.' Andy Darley, Wembley and Brent Times

`Paul Bailey, has compiled a varied picture of the high life and the low life of the capital.' Andy Darley, Paddington Times

`The Oxford Book of London is both a pleasure and a welcome contribution to the debate over London. It is a model for anthologies on other major cities.' Steven Spier, Architects Journal --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

About the Editor:
Paul Bailey was born and still lives in London. He is best known as a novelist, author of Gabriel's Lament (1986) and Sugar Cane (1993). He has also written a memoir of his London childhood, An Immaculate Mistake (1990).

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192832441
• ISBN-13: 978-0192832443
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,159,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive London, July 9, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Oxford Book of London (Hardcover)

Well, perhaps not definitive London, but a good collection nonetheless. Like most modern histories of London, the books pays only cursory attention to the period prior the Norman Conquest; there is a simple reason for this -- not much exists text-wise to give account of life, history, etc. prior to this time. The Oxford Book of London, edited by Paul Bailey, is divided into three sections: Part I, Twelfth to Eighteenth Century London; Part II, Nineteenth Century London; and Part III: Twentieth Century London.

Part I includes observations and rememberings of monks, poets, diplomats, clerics, and royals (being the major divisions of literate people during the 12th to 18th centuries). Included are visions of Chaucer and Shakespeare, Nashe and Donne, Jonson and Herrick, Hobbes and Pepys. The texts include passages from person diaries and newspaper headlines such as 'A Whale in London' circa 1658. All sides presented, as a perusal of headlines will show: "A Revel! A Revel!' balances 'An Absolute Hell on Earth'. Here you will be introduced to (or reminded of) Wat Tyler, Moll Flanders, John Boswell; you'll walk the streets as seen by Mozart and Haydn.

Part II narrows the focus a bit, and when most people think about 'Old London', it is in fact this period of time to which most of them harken back. The nineteenth century saw London's explosive growth and true development as an imperial world city. In 1834 Thomas de Quincey published 'The Nation of London'; excerpts are here. Wordsworth and Blake wrote of London during this period, as did Keats and Thackeray (his 'How to live well on nothing a year' is wonderful). This is also the London of Dickens and Sherlock Holmes, perhaps the two visions of London that endure most. The rise of popular press also took hold during this period -- the true miracle here of this section is that it does not go on for a thousand pages.

Part III is a similar miracle. London is established, in many ways a city of unparalleled urban blight (Jack London--hmmm, where do you suppose he got that name?--called it a 'vast and malodorous sea'). Shaw's post-Victorian London images remain firm in our minds, as does E.M. Forster's; T.S. Eliot describes London as an 'Unreal City', yet, for the fire wardens during the war, the city was far too real, and far too flammable.

One is inclined to agree that London is in many ways the 'Capital of all Capitals', to quote Steen Eiler Rasmussen (1937), and yet, while there is hopefulness in the latest visions of London, there is also a sadness and an underlying fear that perhaps the best days are behind.