London Stories

Londonhasthegreatestliterarytraditionofanycityintheworld.ItsrollcallofstorytellersincludesculturalgiantslikeShakespeare,Defoe,andDickens,andaninnumerablehostofwritersofallsortswhosoughttocapturetheessenceoftheplace.AcclaimedhistorianJerryWhitehascollectedsometwenty-sixstoriestoillustratetheextraordinarydiversityofbothLondonlifeandwritingoverthepastfourcenturies,fromShakespeare’sdaytothepresent.Thesearestoriesoffactandfictionandoccasionallysomethinginbetween,somefromwell-knownvoicesandotherspracticallyunknown.Herearedramaticviewsofsuchiconiceventsastheplague,theGreatFireofLondon,andtheBlitz,butalsoWilliamThackeray’saccountofgoingtoseeamanhanged,ThomasDeQuincey’sfriendshipwithateenagedprostitute,andDorisLessing’sdefenseoftheUnderground.ThisliteraryLondonencompassesthefamousBakerStreetresidenceofConanDoyle’sSherlockHolmesandthebombed-outmoonscapeofElizabethBowen’swartimestreets,CharlesDicken’streacherousRiverThamesandFrederickTreves’stragicElephantMan.GrahamGreene,JeanRhys,MurielSpark,andHanifKureishiareamongthemanygreatwriterswhogiveustheirvariedLondonshere,revealingacityofboundlesswealthandraggedsqualor,ofmovingtragedyandriotousjoy.(BookJacketStatus:Jacketed)