London is steeped in history. From its Roman foundations to Shakespeare’s plays and the Great Fire all the way to the modern day, the All About History Book of London will take you on an incredible journey through the rich and exciting history of England’s capital. You'll explore the horrors of the Tower of London, meet the great minds who rebuilt the city after the fires of 1666 and uncover the mysteries of Victorian crime. You will also step into some of London's most iconic buildings, learn how the Underground was excavated and relive the summer when the Olympics came to town.
HISTORY OF LONDON
The Romans found Londinium • Roman London sprung up around a crossing across the Thames
Boudicca lays waste to London • The revolt of the Iceni in 60-61 CE visited upon London a grim and grisly fate
Alfred the Great restores London • The Anglo-Saxon king freed the city from the Viking hordes
Westminster Abbey: Guardian of history • For nearly a millennium, Westminster Abbey has witnessed, memorialised and enshrined many of the most significant people and events in British history
The Revolt Peasants’ • Discontent among the people fuelled the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, a brief but profound period of unrest in English history
Henry VIII’s Tower of Terror • The turbulent reign of Henry VIII saw many men, women and children imprisoned at his majesty’s pleasure – and not all escaped with their lives
London 43 CE to 1564
Uncovering SHAKESPEARE’S LONDON • Archaeological excavations at a rediscovered playhouse are revealing new insights into theatre during the time of the Bard
5/11 gunpowder plot • Everyone remembers the fifth of November, but the true story of the men who plotted the gunpowder treason is often forgotten
The Palace of Westminster • Known as the ‘Mother of Parliaments’, Westminster’s iconic architecture is recognised throughout the world
Execution of Charles I • After years of ruinous war, the king was made to pay the ultimate price
The Great Plague of London • The Great Plague swept through London in 1665, leaving devastation in its wake and almost a quarter of the population dead
THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON • In a city pushed to breaking point, the smouldering coals from a bakehouse devastated the heart of England
Rebuilding London • In a city ravaged by fire, precious little was left standing. The time had come to rebuild
St Paul’s Cathedral • London’s crowning glory stands as a monument to one man’s genius
London 1564 to 1700
London’s royal palaces • Uncover London’s eclectic mix of beautiful palaces, home to Britain’s mad, bad and merry monarchs for hundreds of years
River Thames frost fairs • Discover the carnivals that broke out on the ice when the River Thames was turned into a winter wonderland
A tale of one city: Dickensian London • London was not simply the city in which Charles Dickens lived but also his inspiration, obsession and lead character in his novels
The London Underground • Discover how one of the most advanced and complex subterranean rail networks on the planet began and how it has developed over the decades
Royal Observatory, Greenwich • The Royal Observatory played a key role in mapping the seas and stars
VICTORIAN CRIME • While overseas the British Empire was flourishing, in London, the city of fog, a grisly war was waging between the emerging criminal class and a fledging police force
London 1700 to 1940
London under the Blitz • Following his failure in the Battle of Britain, Hitler turned his attention to Britain’s cities, and London in particular
The Great Smog of London • Smog was a regular occurrence in the capital, but the smog of 1952 was...
