Secrets of the Hidden City (The London Encyclopaedia - Christopher Hibbert)

Member Name: EasternStar

Product:	The London Encyclopaedia - Christopher Hibbert
Date:	14/03/09 (158 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The closest you can get to time travel

Disadvantages: A daunting 1060 pages

It is one of the ironies of life that most of us live in cities, sometimes even houses, that were named, planned and designed by the long-dead. Those of us who live in or near London know the meaning of "creaking Victorian infrastructure" better than most, as we use a tube network, roads and water systems designed for a completely different world.

The London Encyclopedia is a mammoth reference work of 1060 pages and shows us that there is a deep history behind virtually all of the places, streets and buildings in London. Most of the bloody revolutions, scandals and turmoil in England's eventful history made their way through the capital. Even the most innocuous locations can yield dark secrets.

It is also a fascinating guide to the lost city of London, the places that have simply been demolished, destroyed or vanished. From the Gothic splendour of Old St. Paul's Cathedral (burned down 1666), to the vast glass emporium of Crystal Palace (burned down 30 November 1926), this book is a time travel machine back to the fallen icons of London. Foremost among the architectural casualties are the soaring beauty of the Great Hall of Euston Station and its Doric arch, famously lost to the wreckers' cranes in the 1960s.

The London Encyclopedia is no easy read: the text is authoritative, sometimes dense, and always magisterial. However simply because each entry is a concise and self-contained definition, it is perfect to dip into for reference or random amusement. While I am a huge fan of Wikipedia and other online resources, the entries in this Encyclopedia are in my view more detailed, refined and authoritative. Photographs, engravings and pictures add value to the text at all points.

The sheer level of detail is amazing and gives an insight into ages past. A short history of Clapham Common reveals that in 1722 a raid was organised against the vermin infestation there, with 10 shillings being paid for killing nine hedgehogs and seven polecats. Another example: The King's Road in Chelsea was originally a private road that Charles II used on his way to Hampton Court; other travellers had to produce a copper pass stamped "The King's Private Road" to use it.

Outside the City and Westminster, nearly everywhere in London was a country settlement or village until the great urban expansion from the late eighteenth century onwards. A map at the start of this volume shows the urban encroachment over time. Once there was a little river crossing across the River Westbourne where legend had it that two knights fought to the death. By the 1630s it had developed into a little hamlet infamous for its duels, highwaymen and fine tavern like The Swan. Today, of course, Knightsbridge boasts the most expensive real estate in the world.

Sometimes even individual farms have achieved immortality, such as Chalcot's farm on Haverstock Hill which has a ghostly afterlife on the Northern Line as "Chalk Farm". Even the history of individual pubs is described in detail - the Coal Hole on the Strand for example, founded in the early 19th century as a refuge for coal-heavers working on the Thames. The volume covers the whole of modern Greater London so the fascinating history of suburban areas such as Hornchurch is also elaborated. (For the uninitiated, Hornchurch lay at the very edge of the ice sheet that covered Britain in the Ice Age and the church of St. Andrew has, well, horns).

The overriding impression is that the Victorian age did more than any other era to shape London - through massive urban expansion, the coming of the railways and monumental architecture from the Houses of Parliament to Tower Bridge. Like a living organism the city continues to grow and hopefully future editions will record the new towers of the City and the monuments of the 2012 Olympic Games.

There is enough information here to last a lifetime. Although a history graduate myself, I realised my studies had barely scratched the surface of the deep past that exists in a single city. If you have any interest in history, or London, this book is the equivalent of the Klondike. This book is the mother lode. It's monumental, magisterial and worth every penny.

(c) Paul/EasternStar 2009

Summary: Authoritative, fascinating and priceless.