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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Fascinating summary of London's development, 15 April 2002
By A Customer
I found this book fascinating in a number of ways. Firstly, as someone who has worked in, and lived in or around, London for much of my life, the development of London as a city, from a collection of towns and villages, is interesting in itself. The thought of Kensington or Chelsea as outlying villages, for instance, rather than suburbs, or the idea of rough tracks through forest and moorland where now we have Underground lines and motorways: to realise that this was London, only a few hundred years ago, is extraordinary.Secondly, this book is fascinating for the way it shows the development of maps themselves. The introduction of more accurate measurement, the development of printing techniques, the increasing value of easy-to-use maps to the London dweller as well as the visitor - all of these come across as you trace the history of London. Thirdly, it gives some nice insights into the life of Londoners, the events - such as the Great Exhibition - which changed the city and the social change which accompanied the increases in traffic, the arrival of the railways and so on. Anyone with an interest in the history of London will enjoy this book. If you like maps (as I do!) you will also find it hugely interesting.
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