Without the City Wall: An Adventure in London Street Names North of the River (London Library Series) [Paperback]

Hector Bolitho (Author), Derek Peel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002 | Series: London Library Series

What’s in a (street) name? In London, plenty. This, and Nairn’s London, are the first two volumes in A Common Reader’s new London Library series for serious lovers of London. With an new Introduction by Thomas Meagher.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

For an American out wandering London’s streets, it’s a great delight to puzzle over the origins of the names of the streets themselves. Seven Sisters Road. Bleeding Heart Yard. Chiswell Street. Cold Bath Square. The Angel. Secret histories of London could be learned from the city’s street signs—if only we tourists knew how to decipher them. Fortunately, decipher them is just what Hector Bolitho and Derek Peel set out to do. Without the City Wall, originally published in 1952, is an eloquent record of the facts and fictions the two writers uncovered as they explored a thousand streets and places north of the Thames. With maps plotting each of seventeen described walks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square Publishing (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585790427
• ISBN-13: 978-1585790425
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,909,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Detailed Enough, Yet Also Too Detailed, February 3, 2011

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mastermindquiet - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without the City Wall: An Adventure in London Street Names North of the River (London Library Series) (Paperback)

When I got this book via a swapping site, it had a small handwritten note inside. The previous owner had noted that this was a book that was easy to pick up and just as easy to put down. It was the kind of book to be kept in the kitchen to be read while waiting for a pot to boil! These comments capture my feelings towards the book rather well. The authors take the reader on a tour of the seventeen London boroughs that are outside the "City". The tours, one borough per chapter, are related partially as a first person narrative of their travels and partly as very brief bits of history. Brief in that the longest items might be a couple of paragraphs while most are one or two sentences. As a result the reader comes across a constant stream of facts and after a small amount of time feels as if he is drowning in minutia. Cautiously recommended as a curiosity, but not recommended for any serious study or long term reading pleasure.