A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

Here are two thousand years of London’s history and folklore, its chroniclers and
criminals and plain citizens, its food and drink and countless pleasures. Blackfriar’s
and Charing Cross, Paddington and Bedlam. Westminster Abbey and St. Martin in the
Fields. Cockneys and vagrants. Immigrants, peasants, and punks. The Plague, the
Great Fire, the Blitz. London at all times of day and night, and in all kinds of
weather. In well-chosen anecdotes, keen observations, and the words of hundreds
of its citizens and visitors, Ackroyd reveals the ingenuity and grit and vitality
of London. Through a unique thematic tour of the physical city and its inimitable
soul, the city comes alive.