This attractive, lively and comprehensive book tells the stories behind 800 of the capital's plaques. Arranged geographically - by borough and area - it is the first published guide to London's plaques for over half a century to be compiled with the aid of the official local government and English Heritage files. It features new research on the people and buildings that have been commemorated, both of which are extraordinarily diverse. Over the course of its history, London - which Benjamin Disraeli described as a 'roost for every bird' - has been home to figures as varied as Winston Churchill, Virginia Woolf, Mahatma Gandhi and Jimi Hendrix, all of whom were influenced by the homes and areas in which they lived. London's blue plaques scheme, founded in 1866, is the oldest of its kind in the world, and has been imitated around the globe. Originally envisaged as a means of making 'our houses their own biographers', the scheme aims to commemorate the link between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked. It is a uniquely successful means of connecting people and place, drawing out the human element of the historic environment, and has helped to save a number of London's buildings from demolition. Driven by the general public, the scheme remains hugely popular, and has been imitated around the globe. 'Lived in London' provides the perfect introduction to the many people and buildings honoured under the scheme, and also celebrates the plaques themselves, wonderful objects that have - over the course of the last 140 years - been manufactured by firms such as Minton, Doulton and Poole. By drawing out London's historic associations, they enliven the streetscape and serve to bring us into direct contact with the past, opening a window into another time by showing us where the great and the good have penned their masterpieces, developed new technologies, lived or died.
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"... [a] huge and handsome book ... Houses, their occupants and the plaques are depicted in a wealth of beautifully reproduced photographs." --Peter Parker, Daily Telegraph, 11th July 2009
"... a new complete illustrated guide ... [with] biographies [that] are a well-judged mixture of facts, achievements, anecdotes and quotations ..." -- Andrew Robinson, Nature, 9th July 2009
"Sensibly arranged by region ... a book for those who love to saunter down some of the byways of history." --Good Book Guide, July 2009
"... the first in-depth guide to the capital's plaques ... Beautifully illustrated ...includes maps of locations ..." --Editor's Choice, Heritage Today, July 2009
"...a handsome, comprehensive, coffee table book."
--Jonathan Main, The Transmitter, 1st August 2009
'... a comprehensive and elegantly written guide ... an abundance of photographs ... beautifully presented ... [a] scholarly and diverting compendium.' --Michael Walker, Times, 5th September 2009
'... an important insight into the development of British historical consciousness ... [and] a fitting homage to this wonderful [Blue Plaques] project.'
--Otto Saumarez Smith, Building Design, 14th August 2009
`Arranged geographically, this well-illustrated guide reveals the stories behind 800 of the city's plaques.' --National Trust Magazine, Autumn 2009
`The blue-plaque scheme [is] lavishly celebrated in Lived in London.'
--Church Times, 11th September 2009
`Not only is [this] book beautifully designed and illustrated, but Cole's fascination with her subjects is infectious.' --Duncan Wu, Times Higher Education Supplement, 24th September 2009
`With entries on 800 houses, Lived in London is a formidable undertaking... it provides a major insight into the city.' --Lucy Worsley, Times Literary Supplement, 16th October 2009
'It is definitive; it is beautiful... This lovely book fully indulges the readers' fascination with people and with places...'
--Lizzie Wells, The London Society Journal, Winter 2009
`The text of Lived in London...is lively...more discursive and answers more questions.'
-- Bridget Cherry, London Topographical Society newsletter, November 2009
`This is an extremely handsome book... Any bookshelf will look better for having this volume on it.'
--Martin Guha, Reference Reviews 24 (2), May 2009
About the Author
Emily Cole is Head of Blue Plaques Team, English Heritage.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Lizzie Wells
Format:Hardcover
Since this is the first such guide to group plaques by geographical area, a likely way for a Londoner to judge the offerings is to see who is `plaqued' in his or her own patch. If you live at the southern tip of Clapham Common and commute from Wandsworth Common mainline station your morning walk along Nightingale Lane will take you past or close to Gus Elen (music hall performer), H M Bateman (cartoonist), Charles Spurgeon (preacher) and Ted `Kid' Lewis (boxer), while a detour up or down Trinity Road before catching your train will give you Lloyd George or Thomas Hardy. A stroll along the north side of the Common provides more serious fare with two political activists (Fred Knee and John Burns) an editor of The Times (John Walter), a poet (Edward Thomas) and a writer of historical books for boys (G A Henty).
The subjects are from every social class and from all over the world: passers-by and long term residents. Canaletto, Sylvia Plath, Kwame Nkrumah, Natsume Soseki, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, General De Gaulle and Mohammed Ali Jinnah are among a wealth of guests and settlers.
One of the many delights in browsing this book is to study the illustrations: the Kinnocks unveiling Clement Attlee's plaque in Woodford Green; Gandhi surrounded by smiling policeman and children when visiting Bow in 1931; Enid Blyton, the governess, with her pupils at Chessington; a stunning 1857 photograph of Brunel's Great Eastern on the foreshore of the Thames; Ed Murrow at the microphone and P G Wodehouse in his study; Lady Ottoline Morell walking with her little daughter in Bedford Square.
This lovely book fully indulges the readers' fascination with people and with places and is a hymn of praise to the continuing and wonderful diversity of this extraordinary city.
773 words
The subjects are from every social class and from all over the world: passers-by and long term residents. Canaletto, Sylvia Plath, Kwame Nkrumah, Natsume Soseki, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, General De Gaulle and Mohammed Ali Jinnah are among a wealth of guests and settlers.
One of the many delights in browsing this book is to study the illustrations: the Kinnocks unveiling Clement Attlee's plaque in Woodford Green; Gandhi surrounded by smiling policeman and children when visiting Bow in 1931; Enid Blyton, the governess, with her pupils at Chessington; a stunning 1857 photograph of Brunel's Great Eastern on the foreshore of the Thames; Ed Murrow at the microphone and P G Wodehouse in his study; Lady Ottoline Morell walking with her little daughter in Bedford Square.
This lovely book fully indulges the readers' fascination with people and with places and is a hymn of praise to the continuing and wonderful diversity of this extraordinary city.
773 words
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By A. J. Flint
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is not just another pocket book guide. For a start. it is 337 pages long and weighs heavily. The authors from EH have trawled the Blue Plaque archives and they reveal the arguments and infighting that often occurred as well as the changing criteria adopted and names the designers and contractors who made the plaques. The book is superbly illustrated both from archives and with new photographs and gives a potted biog of the individual commemorated. It is an excellent piece of research and a good example of book production from Yale. One error: for George Alexander entry - St James' Theatre was not in King St Covent Garden but in - er -King Street St James.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By D. Boulter
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this book as a gift for my husband who'd heard about it on Radio London. He is interested in architecture, period buildings, and people - and he is a world expert in door furniture (yes, really!). It's an excellent book - the the type you can refer to rather than "read" in a chunk. It has made us want to visit parts of London we don't know very well, to have see where this kaleidoscopic variety of people lived and worked.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential book if you have an interest in London
This is an excellent reference book for anyone who spends time in London and is interested in history. Read more
Published 10 months ago by A. Stanhope
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great book
There have been previous attempts to produce a guide to the "blue" plaques marking the residences of the famous in London. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2010 by badger
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely coffee table book
There is some really interesting information in this book but it is so big that I struggle to imagine that I am ever going to get much from it. Read more
Published on 15 April 2010 by Janie U
4.0 out of 5 stars
blue plaques
I love books on London and this is no exception. I am really enjoying working my way through the interesting facts concerning the 'blue plaques' of London. Read more
Published on 12 July 2009 by Don Lon
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