Publication of this book, one of six devoted to the buildings of London, marks the completion of the long-awaited revision of the original Pevsner guides and brings the account of the capital’s buildings entirely up to date.

This fascinating volume provides a historical introduction to a uniquely diverse area as well as a detailed gazetteer of individual buildings. Along the Thames, relics of a powerful industrial and maritime past remain, and in the East End, Hawksmoor’s Baroque churches still tower over Georgian houses. The contributions of generations of immigrants are reflected in places of worship and cultural centers, while a century of social housing has produced architecture now of historic interest. Further out, medieval churches and country mansions stand among the suburban streets and proud civic buildings.

Stepping away from conventional analyses of materials or style and into the previously unexplored world of the house owner, this book takes a fresh look at both the social, as well as the architectural, importance of the 18th-century London town house. Drawing on rich and entertaining evidence—both documentary and anecdotal—Rachel Stewart explores why, and how, so many people pursued life in the city. She not only discusses some of the major architects of the day and their most famous buildings, but she also uncovers what occupants of town houses thought about their property; why and how they chose or built their houses; how they paid for them, used them, decorated them, and disposed of them; and what uses it had for them beyond simple accommodation.

From London's first pre-war tall buildings – the first to exceed the 30m limit set by the fire brigade were London Transport's Broadway headquarters and London University's Senate House – via Centrepoint to Canary Wharf, the Gherkin and beyond, this lively and provocative book chronicles the adventures and misadventures of architects, developers, politicians and the poor and usually neglected general public in London over the last seventy five years as they have struggled, planned and schemed to erect, or sometimes to prevent the erection, of ever taller buildings. Chronicling, detailing and illustrating over 120 tall buildings in London, this is an invaluable source book, a lively read, and an original and at times devastating critique of how we live and take decisions, and how we have lived and been ruled and overruled.

An invitation and guide to the best homes in London, from Ben Franklin's to Sherlock Holmes'

London has an amazing range of houses regularly open to the public, and this book covers them all. Architects from Robert Adam to Ernö Goldfinger are represented. In social terms, the spectrum runs from the destitute who filled the workhouse now known as Vestry House in Walthamstow, to aristocrats and royalty busily building and coupling in Kensington and Twickenham. With architectural details, social history, biographies, and practical information, this book provides everything visitors need to plan a trip back through the centuries.