London: A Social History (Paperback)

The earlier periods of London’s history are each allocated a single chapter, but from the Georgian period onwards more chapters are allocated – each on a separate theme. For example, the five chapters on the Victorian period chronicle separately: the economic growth of the capital, the population explosion and land development, how London was governed (including the birth of the LCC and the borough councils), the social problems and social improvement, and Victorian life.

The text is enormously rich in the detail it gives to enable readers to picture London at various stages. We can appreciate both the efforts made by many good people over the ages to make London a better place to live and how certain areas came to be slums, avoided and neglected by the more prosperous citizens.

The author writes eruditely and with passion. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning when, how and why the various districts of the city came to be urbanized. It is also interesting for Londoners to read of how eminent figures of the past viewed the streets we walk along today.

The noticeable weakness of the book is its illustrations. Most of the maps are too small so that the writing and most of the features are not discernible, even with the aid of a magnifying-glass. The text and pictures would be better served by being presented in a hard-backed book of double the size. However, the meat is there, even in this Penguin paperback; with its depth and scope it constitutes a very important history of London, perhaps the best that has been written so far.

Reading through Roy Porters study of London has provided me with a clearer insight as to why and how London has become the city it is today. It has given me new eyes, better understanding and appreciation of this metropolis.

Though it is a very thorough social history book, it is one that any visitor to this city should take time to read, if only to arrive familiar to its buildings, streets and people.

'London is not the eternal city.... Between the two Elizabeths, between 1570 and 1986 to be more precise, it was to become the world's greatest city.'

Porter sees the abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) by Margaret Thatcher as a benchmark to the demise of London as a great city (I happen to disagree; will he change his opinion in light of the upcoming mayoral elections in London?) Porter's current pessimism about London is very apparent from page 1 of the introduction; however, this does not keep him from doing a sterling job with his subject throughout the text.

Porter gives brief description to Londinium (mentioning among other things that it was abandoned 'to the dogs' by the Romans in the fifth century), however, begins his history in earnest about the year 1500 because while 'the Romano-British city and its medieval successor have left extensive archaeological remains and chronicles, ...we have no full visual record from before the Tudor age.'

Porter examines eras in terms of the history of culture, of commerce and industry, and of population and social changes. The nineteenth century (in which there was practically no urban planning, as any current map will inform you) is described as 'Bumbledom', particularly in the field of London politics.

Porter describes the expansion of London as a 'fungus-like growth' in the late 19th/early 20th centuries; he concludes his analysis with chapters on 'Swinging London' and 'Thatcher's London'. Porter leaves us with a question: 'London was always a muddle that worked. Will it remain that way?'

In all, a wonderful read, a wonderful story, and a wonderful topic.