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Humorous History of a Historic Landmark!
In 2006, I had the vacation of a lifetime when I visited England for almost 3 weeks. One morning, we walked over the Millennium Bridge to Southwark to see its sights, and one of them was The George Inn. The food was poor, the service slow and a manager made fun of us - I hope he has left the tourist industry!But, it was grand to tread where Shakespeare probably trod and Dickens certainly imbibed. Even though the taproom floor was replaced in 1947, it is still atmospherically uneven. The ceiling is low and wooden benches and tables hard-worn. Multi-paned windows look out on the courtyard, which you enter through an unobtrusive gate from the street. The gate is high because The George was a coaching inn, and huge high-laden wagons had to get through. With just a little imagination, you can picture the commotion as the wagons and coaches are unloaded and tired travelers retire upstairs, making their way to their rooms on the long balconies overlooking the courtyard.Pete Brown's book was a lot of fun to read. It is lively and fact-filled with lots of humor. The George is London's sole remaining galleried coaching inn. Borough High Street, which ends at London Bridge crossing over into London, used to be lined with them until railroads changed shipping forever."Shakespeare's Pub" takes you from when Southwark was just a swamp south of the river, to how it grew and where and why it grew. From litigation documents, we know the inn was called the St. George in 1485, but had to change it around 1540 when Henry VIII outlawed all things saint-ish. The inn has burned down at least twice and the stories of how it survived to the present day, when so many pubs and inns didn't, makes for good reading.Brown does take informational segues, but always to a purpose. For example, the poetry of best drinking buds, Sir John Mennis and Dr. James Smith, is touched on because one of their poems mentions The George. I can't blame Brown when he continues a little off-topic to show off some of their other poetry. Who could resist a poem titled, "The Fart's Epitaph"?I wish I'd been able to read Pete Brown's book before the trip, because it would have added to my enjoyment of visiting the inn. I'll leave you with this description of the taproom: "It is, without doubt, a bar so snug, cozy, homely, characterful, timeless and cheery, the only thing that could improve it would be a group of hobbits singing to each other in the corner."Happy Reader
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Top reviews from other countries
Jill W.
A failure if you were hoping for a pub review ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2018Kindle Customer
I just couldn't put the book down.
Reviewed in Canada on October 17, 2013