Aimed at visitors and Londoners alike, this fully updated edition of "Secret London" unlocks the city's most fascinating secrets - both above and below ground. Celebrated historian Andrew Duncan strips away bricks, mortar and tarmac to uncover parts of the capital that even born and bred Londoners may never have seen. Below ground, he guides readers through an extraordinary honeycomb of structures - from the government's vast system of offices and tunnels under Whitehall and through abandoned Underground stations to Clerkenwell's amazing network of subterranean prison cells. Above ground, he leads the way through narrow alleyways and cobbled mews, revealing unexpected treasures and describing rarely seen interiors and special collections. Opening times and addresses, detailed route maps and evocative photographs complement a fascinating text that is sure to delight all urban explorers. Both cover and inside design have also been comprehensively updated for this edition.
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.00
Trade in Secret London: Exploring the Hidden City, with Original Walks and Unusual Places to Visit for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.00, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more
|
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
About the Author
Andrew Duncan is a celebrated historian and expert on London. He has walked and guided popular tours in the capital for many years, always combining a love of places with a professional interest in their history. His other books for New Holland - including Walking London, Walking Village London, Walking Notorious London and Andrew Duncan's Favourite London Walks - are best-sellers.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Chris M
The book describes itself as "exploring the hidden city with original walks". I enjoy exploring London on foot so this book seemed like a good purchase.
There are a lot of interesting details and things to do in here that I had no idea about. For example, I have booked myself on a Big Ben tour after this book told me this was possible. But some of the points of interest are so hidden that you cannot actually go there and some of the walks seem so featureless, such as following the course of old rivers that you can't even see, as not to appeal to as many people as a book like this should do.
The problem with the book is that it is doesn't know where to place itself. Is it a book telling you about secret London or is it a walking guide to help you to go and see secret London? It's kind of both which doesn't totally work for me. It will tell you about one thing and then take you on a tour of another. The author obviously knows London well and there are lots of interesting details in Secret London but on the walking pages there are surprisingly few. In one of the walks of the City of London there is a heading "Forgotten prison" but there is no mention of any former prison in the following paragraphs. It would seem that the prison was also forgotten by the author.
The chapters that relate to the walks are mainly lots of pages of directions with very little detail on what you are going to see. Whilst directions are obviously crucial you do want more details about what you are seeing to make the walk seem worth doing.
I also have Walking Haunted London by Richard Jones. Haven't seen any ghosts (because they don't exist) but that book strikes a good balance between directions, fascinating facts on the walk and historical details about the City and it's former inhabitants.
There are a lot of interesting details and things to do in here that I had no idea about. For example, I have booked myself on a Big Ben tour after this book told me this was possible. But some of the points of interest are so hidden that you cannot actually go there and some of the walks seem so featureless, such as following the course of old rivers that you can't even see, as not to appeal to as many people as a book like this should do.
The problem with the book is that it is doesn't know where to place itself. Is it a book telling you about secret London or is it a walking guide to help you to go and see secret London? It's kind of both which doesn't totally work for me. It will tell you about one thing and then take you on a tour of another. The author obviously knows London well and there are lots of interesting details in Secret London but on the walking pages there are surprisingly few. In one of the walks of the City of London there is a heading "Forgotten prison" but there is no mention of any former prison in the following paragraphs. It would seem that the prison was also forgotten by the author.
The chapters that relate to the walks are mainly lots of pages of directions with very little detail on what you are going to see. Whilst directions are obviously crucial you do want more details about what you are seeing to make the walk seem worth doing.
I also have Walking Haunted London by Richard Jones. Haven't seen any ghosts (because they don't exist) but that book strikes a good balance between directions, fascinating facts on the walk and historical details about the City and it's former inhabitants.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Fraser the Frank Fish
VINE™ VOICE
"Secret London" was not quite what I was hoping for. "The London you couldn't have cared less about" may have been a more appropriate title. There are 9 walks about central London from Notting Hill in the west to Houndsditch in the East, and Islington in the north to Vauxhall in the south. The walks deliberately shy away from the famous landmarks but do not really focus on anything secret but rather the more mundane landmarks.
Another disappointment was the presentation. The flyleaf says that the "full colour photos capture the treasures tucked behind every corner", but there are only about 15 photos and a fair few of those are the staple London fayre - Big Ben etc, the rest aren't that engaging or informative. The narrative is also difficult to fathom. With a good knowledge of the area I still struggled, the lack of photos and context must make this difficult for a non-Londoner. Add this together with some strange sections that just seem random - private banks? - and this is just a bit too confused for me. Where certain sites were featured the description and history was little more than cursory
Overall, I felt a bit disappointed, it felt like a load of odds and ends discarded from guidebooks during editing had been collected off the floor and bound together with no real coordination, a bit like the anticlimax of Carry on Laughing compared to Caarry on Screaming. I'm giving this 2 stars, a few interesting bits but there must be much better guidebooks out there covering the lesser known London.
Another disappointment was the presentation. The flyleaf says that the "full colour photos capture the treasures tucked behind every corner", but there are only about 15 photos and a fair few of those are the staple London fayre - Big Ben etc, the rest aren't that engaging or informative. The narrative is also difficult to fathom. With a good knowledge of the area I still struggled, the lack of photos and context must make this difficult for a non-Londoner. Add this together with some strange sections that just seem random - private banks? - and this is just a bit too confused for me. Where certain sites were featured the description and history was little more than cursory
Overall, I felt a bit disappointed, it felt like a load of odds and ends discarded from guidebooks during editing had been collected off the floor and bound together with no real coordination, a bit like the anticlimax of Carry on Laughing compared to Caarry on Screaming. I'm giving this 2 stars, a few interesting bits but there must be much better guidebooks out there covering the lesser known London.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Ritzy King
I got this book because I was aware of hidden gems around london but didn't know where they all were. I had hoped this would guide me to some of them.
Although it does point out some artifacts, a lot of them are not so hidden so much as just the author showing the history of them (the lights at Picadilly Circus, Cleopatra's needle, etc). Alongside this, the author lists off several (I'd say over 50% of the book) locations that have a lot of history to old london, yet are completely inaccessible to be seen by the public.
There are walks, but unfortunately the book comes short of my expectations. I think if you're looking for a history of london and a brilliant insight into some of the older parts of the city, this is a good book. If, however, you actually want to see them, this isn't an ideal book for that.
If I had wanted this book for the history I would have given it more stars, but because it didn't cut the mustard for what I was after (given the title) I'm only willing to give it 2 stars.
Although it does point out some artifacts, a lot of them are not so hidden so much as just the author showing the history of them (the lights at Picadilly Circus, Cleopatra's needle, etc). Alongside this, the author lists off several (I'd say over 50% of the book) locations that have a lot of history to old london, yet are completely inaccessible to be seen by the public.
There are walks, but unfortunately the book comes short of my expectations. I think if you're looking for a history of london and a brilliant insight into some of the older parts of the city, this is a good book. If, however, you actually want to see them, this isn't an ideal book for that.
If I had wanted this book for the history I would have given it more stars, but because it didn't cut the mustard for what I was after (given the title) I'm only willing to give it 2 stars.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book, but page 46 is missing!
I really like this book, very interesting, nice pictures, but I got a problem: the text on page 46 is missing (the page number is also missing)! I was very disappointed! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Cardia Simone Giovanni
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great service .. thank you
This was bought as a gift for my dad and he loves it. I ordered two books and they came well packaged and in good time. Thank you Amazon!!
Published on 6 Jan 2011 by helsbells
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!
This book is great - full of interesting information and easy to follow walking routes. This book is ideal for Londoners who perhaps want to know more about the city they live in,... Read more
Published on 12 Oct 2010 by Hazmonkey
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hidden gems
There's always more to a city than meets the eye and it is always useful to have an expert guide book on the less visited or mentioned sights. Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2010 by K. Platt
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great value for London lovers.
"London is a city that you can visit a thousand times and still want to go back for more. This book is an insightful guide to places and things to see that you won't find on the... Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2009 by Giovanni Anchois
2.0 out of 5 stars
secret london
The main secret was finding where the walks were situated..in the book!!! There is over half the book given over to things of very little interest.. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2009 by Mr. I. D. Banks
2.0 out of 5 stars
Distracted by reviews
Started off looking for book A and was linked to book B - reviews overwelmed me and bought book B - don't like it - seems to hold back on detail - more a guide book than a history... Read more
Published on 19 July 2009 by AA Percy
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
