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Even the most devoted Anglophile will learn something new from these four hundred fun & wide-ranging trivia questions about London's history, monuments, architecture, famous residents, place-names & notable events. A delightful way to explore the city on foot or via armchair, this fun book is the perfect gift, with history ranging from obscure lore to facts & fascinating, often humorous, histories. Here's a sample: Where is the only cross-eyed statue in London & who does it depict? a) Next to the Royal Exchange in the City of London; George Peabody, the nineteenth-century American-born philanthropist b) At the point where Fetter Lane & New Fetter Lane converge; John Wilkes, the eighteenth-century politician c) Islington Green; Sir Hugh Myddleton, the seventeenth-century entrepreneur Answer: b) John Wilkes really did have a severe squint, as reproduced in the statue, but despite his looks, he was a legendary & eloquent womanizer who once said that, when meeting an attractive woman, it took him only ten minutes to talk away his face. ...

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The London Scene is a beautifully illustrated, gift-book-sized hardback that marks the launch of the Signature Collection, a series of neglected or forgotten works by major authors. Next in line are pieces by EM Forster, Edgar Allan Poe & Jerome K Jerome, which are to be published in the spring. --Observer ...

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Modern-day London abounds with a multitude of gardens, enclosed by railings & surrounded by houses, which attest to the English love of nature. These green enclaves, known as squares, are among the most distinctive & admired features of the metropolis & are England's greatest contribution to the development of European town planning & urban form. Traditionally, inhabitants who overlooked these gated communal gardens paid for their maintenance & had special access to them. As such, they have long been synonymous with privilege, elegance, & prosperous metropolitan living. They epitomize the classical notion of rus in urbe, the integration of nature within the urban plan
- a concept that continues to shape cities to this day. Todd Longstaffe-Gowan delves into the history, evolution, & social implications of squares, which have been an important element in the planning & expansion of London since the early 17th century. As an amenity that fosters health & well-being & a connection to the natural world, the square has played a crucial role in the development of the English capital.
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The iconic London Taxi is the only vehicle in the world to be specifically designed for hire work in cities, & since its introduction a great variety of taxis have travelled the streets of the capital. Illustrated throughout with many black & white photographs, ” The London Taxi” follows the development of the taxi, painting an image of the changing lifestyles of Londoners through the context of the growing cab trade & the many different styles of taxi that have served the people of London. ...

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Much has been written about London`s terraced houses with their simple dignity, their economical use of space & their sense of comfort & human scale. Yet the small gardens that lie before or behind the houses in this great city have until now been overlooked. In this groundbreaking account of the development of the private garden in London, eminent garden historian Todd Longstaffe-Gowan provides a delightful remedy to the oversight. Recognising the contribution of modest domestic gardens to the texture of eighteenth- & early nineteenth-century London, Longstaffe-Gowan explores in detail the small gardens, their owners & their significance to the development of the metropolis. Some two hundred illustrations enhance this rich & fascinating discussion. Town gardening was conventionally maligned as a trifling pursuit conducted within inhospitable & infertile enclosures. This view changed during the eighteenth century as middle class Londoners found in gardening activities an outlet for personal enjoyment & expression. This book describes how gardening affected the lives of many, becoming part of the ritual of the daily round & gratifying material aspirations. Longstaffe-Gowan charts how the private garden became for the first time a common expectation, how the rise of town gardening coincided with new social & economic views, how temporary fanciful gardens became popular, how gardens in the city related to suburban gardens & much more about the origins & growth of domestic gardens in London. Todd Longstaffe-Gowan is a landscape architect in private practice in London. He is gardens adviser to Hampton Court Palace & has worked as a landscape architect on the conservation of historic parks & gardens & the design of new landscapes in Britain, on the Continent & in the West Indies. ...

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The London Underground is the heart of London life, used by millions of commuters & shoppers every year, its tentacles extending into the suburbs it has helped to create. Its turbulent life has been determined by the trials & tribulations endured by the people it carries: it provided an network of life-saving shelter in the Blitz, but has also been the scene of numerous tragedies. The London Underground will transport you vividly back to the past: well over half the illustrations are in colour, & most of the photographs have not seen the light of day since they were taken. ...

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The London Underground is a pioneer & an institution. The first underground railway in the world, & incorporating the first ever deep tunnel `tube` lines too, it is at the heart of London life, with millions of commuters & tourists using it every year & its tentacles extending into the suburbs it helped to create. Its turbulent history reflects the trials & tribulations of London itself: it provided a network of life-saving shelters in the Blitz, but has also faced many logistical challenges, with constant improvements necessary to keep the Tube fit for purpose. This book is not a recompilation of facts & photos published elsewhere, however. Taking a fresh approach, it is a history that focuses on the interesting & quirky aspects of the subject. To transport you more vividly back to the past, well over half the illustrations are in colour, including many rarely seen photographs. ...

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There are a multitude of ` London Calling` cards in the collection at Rocket 68. This lively illustrated range of London themed prints & cards aims to portray the vibrancy & beauty of London`s architecture, areas, life & communities. Each card is supplied with quality Gunpowder grey envelope in a cellophane wrapper. These cards are all illustrated by Jill White & printed in the UK on a lovely soft Calisto FSC accredited board. ...

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Fred West. Ian Brady. Harold Shipman. These names haunt the national consciousness & yet none was as prolific as the little-known ` Underground Killer`, Kieran Kelly. Operating without motive or rationale he pushed sixteen souls to their deaths on the tracks of the London Underground, before vanishing back into the crowd. Geoff Platt has painstakingly researched the `career` of Kelly, whose name may be unfamiliar even to those who study the minds & misdeeds of the criminal underworld. In a time of greater governmental control of the media, the case was hushed up, lest the residents of London be gripped by mass hysteria at the thought of a faceless killer lurking on the platforms of the Central line. Kelly`s first victim was his best friend & could have been called a crime passionnel, as it was committed in the heat of an argument after an evening of heavy drinking. However when Kelly realised his crime had gone undetected he felt a rush of power which he sought to recreate again & again. The killer took delight in his apparent cunning
- he often passed himself off as a star witness, who had been talking to the `poor, depressed man about his unfaithful wife, when the train arrived at the station & he jumped underneath it`. The implications of Kelly`s actions spread wide, leaving families unable to claim life insurance once the death was ruled as suicide. The officers involved in the case were a small, select cadre of elite Flying Squad & Serious Crime Squad Officers from South London, the same ones who had also been dealing with the Krays & the Richardsons. Their story is equally compelling, involved as they were in extreme, unusual & certainly unorthodox tactics. These intricate strands of a murky underworld weave together to make a fascinating, if gruesome, story.
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Travel Tin The classic race game through London`s Underground Travel version of the popular board game. Be the first commuter to travel to each of your landmarks & get back to your start station. Watch out for station closures & hazards!2-5 players ...

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The London Train

”The London Train” is a novel in two parts, separate but wound together around a single moment, examining in vivid detail two lives stretched between two cities. Paul lives in the Welsh countryside with his wife Elise, and their two young children. The day after his mother dies he learns that his eldest daughter Pia, who was living with his ex-wife in London, has moved out from home and gone missing. He sets out in search of Pia, and when he eventually finds her, living with her lover in a chaotic flat in a tower block in King`s Cross, he thinks at first he wants to rescue her. But the search for his daughter begins a period of unrest and indecision for Paul: he is drawn closer to the hub of London, to the excitements of a life lived in jeopardy, to Pia`s fragile new family.
Paul`s a pessimist; when a heat wave scorches the capital week after week he fears that they are all `sleep-walking to the edge of a great pit, like spoiled trusting children`. In the opposite direction, Cora is moving back to Cardiff, to the house she has inherited from her parents. She is escaping her marriage, and the constrictions and disappointments of her life in London.At work in the local library, she is interrupted by a telephone call from her sister-in-law and best friend, to say that her husband has disappeared. Connecting both stories is the London train, and a chance meeting that will have immediate and far-reaching consequences for both Paul and for Cora. ”The London Train” is a vivid and absorbing account of the impulses and accidents that can shape our lives,
alongside our ideas; about loyalty, love, sex and the complicated bonds of friends and family. Penetrating, perceptive, and wholly absorbing, it is an extraordinary new novel from one of the best writers working in Britain today.

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Supplier: Stanfords
SKU: 9780099552260

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” The London Train” is a novel in two parts, separate but wound together around a single moment, examining in vivid detail two lives stretched between two cities. Paul lives in the Welsh countryside with his wife Elise, & their two young children. The day after his mother dies he learns that his eldest daughter Pia, who was living with his ex-wife in London, has moved out from home & gone missing. He sets out in search of Pia, & when he eventually finds her, living with her lover in a chaotic flat in a tower block in King`s Cross, he thinks at first he wants to rescue her. But the search for his daughter begins a period of unrest & indecision for Paul: he is drawn closer to the hub of London, to the excitements of a life lived in jeopardy, to Pia`s fragile new family. Paul`s a pessimist; when a heat wave scorches the capital week after week he fears that they are all `sleep-walking to the edge of a great pit, like spoiled trusting children`. In the opposite direction, Cora is moving back to Cardiff, to the house she has inherited from her parents. She is escaping her marriage, & the constrictions & disappointments of her life in London. At work in the local library, she is interrupted by a telephone call from her sister-in-law & best friend, to say that her husband has disappeared. Connecting both stories is the London train, & a chance meeting that will have immediate & far-reaching consequences for both Paul & for Cora. ” The London Train” is a vivid & absorbing account of the impulses & accidents that can shape our lives, alongside our ideas; about loyalty, love, sex & the complicated bonds of friends & family. Penetrating, perceptive, & wholly absorbing, it is an extraordinary new novel from one of the best writers working in Britain today.

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Jargon Buster

Heat - A term used to define thermal energy

Friends - A close associate or a popular US based sitcom about a group of friends

King - The figure head of a monarch

Telephone - A device used for communicating audio over long distances

edge - Enhanced data rates for GSM evolution also known as enhanced GPRS. A mobile phone technology with improved data transmission rates.

edge - The point at which two surfaces meet

Day - The time it takes a planet or other space objects to complete one rotation.

Love - Someone who shows deep affection for someone else.

Home - A place of permanent residence for families.

Children - A young life form within the early stages of physical development,

Family - A group of people that live together made up from parents and children.

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Stanfords

Stanfords was established in 1853 and opened their iconic Covent Garden flagship store in 1901. They have become the top retailer of maps, travel books and accessories in the UK and arguably offer the largest selection of maps and travel books worldwide. Famous names such as Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Ranulph Fiennes and Michael Palin have purchased from Stanfords. They now have a shop in Bristol and both stores together with other venues operate a calendar of events including talks, book signings and exhibitions. As a specialist map retailer, the map selection is comprehensive and includes road maps, street maps and walking maps from worldwide destinations, as well as a selection of world atlases and wall maps. Books include travel guides and travel literature. Stanfords also stock globes, from miniatures made of blue marble to magnificent floor-standing globes. The website features a selection of interesting articles on travel topics.

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The London Train

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