London lore book

Sort order. Start your review of The Secret Lore of London. Jun 05, Candice rated it liked it. As someone who actually bought and read this book, I can honestly say that much of it was a chore to read once you get over how pretty the cover art is.

Note: I'm not a Ph. D candidate or a true Londoner and I've never read the original edition of this book, so maybe I just picked up the wrong book for me personally. While the book is divided into sections, which sounds lovely and organized, the content is a mishmash of essays of varying approachability and largely unknown age of original publicat As someone who actually bought and read this book, I can honestly say that much of it was a chore to read once you get over how pretty the cover art is.

While the book is divided into sections, which sounds lovely and organized, the content is a mishmash of essays of varying approachability and largely unknown age of original publication tucked under one section or another with no real cohesion or meaningful progression of topics.

It felt a bit like an non-specific call for papers that just got pasted together despite their sometimes redundant coverage of certain topics. The book was edited to add reference notes in parentheses to refer back to chapters within itself, but these notes fail give it any real cohesion either. As someone who has never been to London, I found it confusing that the section devoted to a basic walkthrough of the general sites with simple references to the associated lore of each site appears in the middle of the book, rather than the beginning.

In the beginning, where you might have expected to see a general introduction to the city in plain english, you get instead a laborious old English style geographical poem excerpt which drags on for 4 pages but then offers nothing in the way of explication or summary.

While the Poly-Olbion is famous and excerpt was topical, it's bloody difficult and a bit painful to read with no context. Many of the essays are so high brow only a devoted scholar of that topic could appreciate the "you had to have been there" thesis feel. A few of the essays were genuinely enjoyable and approachable, but many of them dryly repeat the same 4 or 5 bits of lore with varying levels of detail. One essay had a fantastic story in it Overall, I did enjoy the book and certain essays within were an absolute delight Chapters 6, 10, and 11 offhand and a few others I can't recall at the moment , but it's largely unapproachable for the layman and feels a bit messy because of the pasted essay format.

But again, my criticism may just be a result of having different expectations of the book and having no foreknowledge of the locale or lore. Jul 04, Harry rated it liked it. This was a very interesting collection of essays, especially if you're a Londoner, and I enjoyed unravelling the mythology surrounding the city. Lots of things I never really thought about before, like who founded London or where all the dead people from the black plague are or whats the deal with Merlin.

Its let down somewhat by the inconsistent quality of the writers, with the essays varying wildly in readability, good history and persuasiveness. Some of the authors also seem to genuinely beli This was a very interesting collection of essays, especially if you're a Londoner, and I enjoyed unravelling the mythology surrounding the city. Some of the authors also seem to genuinely believe in some kind magic and this comes across in their writing. Whilst not a bad thing by itself, they tend to get very hand-wavy and metaphorical with their explanations.

Special mention to the chapter "Towers of sound and light" for being the worst culprit and just making me roll my eyes the most. Though admittedly some of that is just that the overly flowery writing style is super jarring and sticks out compared to the more formal style of the rest of the book. I particularly enjoyed the first couple of essays which went into the mythological origins of London, and the "Wise women of London" which was about witchcraft before an 18th century law essentially declaring witchcraft wasn't real and couldn't be punished, and it has the advantage of there being plenty of records of accusations of witchcraft before that.

There was an essay on boundaries and borders in London as well which was way more interesting than the subject would have suggested. Its split into 3 sections, the first third being a sequence of essays going through London's history in a vaguely chronological manner, the middle being a glossary of significant locations in London, and the third part seeming to be the essays that didn't really fit into the first third. I would highly recommend the first section to anyone at all interesting in the occult, British folklore or London.

The middle is useful as a reference, and while the explanations with them are interesting there's a lot of overlap with the other two parts. I found the final third pretty dry, but its a fair bit shorter too. Also the cover is awesome. Apr 26, Rich Oxley rated it it was ok. Bit of a rag tag collection of wilfully ahistorical musings. Mildly entertaining when the subject matter is fresh, but by the 8th mention of Bran and the White Tower my interest began to wane. Bit of a coup managing to bag Iain Sinclair for the foreward if I'm honest.

May 26, Alec Mcallister rated it it was ok Shelves: history-travel. A mish-mash of essays of varying quality. For anyone that loves London like me, it's worth a quick look but no more than that. Aug 26, Jbondandrews rated it liked it.

A good book though I skipped the parts that dealt with the Templars. Mar 01, Michelle Ryles rated it really liked it Shelves: arcs-read. This book has the most amazing cover; I see something new in it every time I look at it and it's a miracle that I managed to tear my eyes away to actually read the book. It's an absolutely fascinating account of London's history, teaching me things I didn't know and reminding me of things I had forgotten.

As with all non-fiction books there are some chapters that are more in This book has the most amazing cover; I see something new in it every time I look at it and it's a miracle that I managed to tear my eyes away to actually read the book. As with all non-fiction books there are some chapters that are more interesting than others, mainly due to the reader's personal preferences.

I enjoy reading Egyptian and Roman history so I was fascinated by the chapters detailing London's Roman past and I'm absolutely kicking myself that I'd never noticed the statue of Sekhmet standing guard over the entrance to Sotheby's on Bond Street. Even more fascinating is that it is one of a pair of statues that came to London in the 's to be sold at auction. The one above the doorway of Sotheby's was sold but not collected, the other is part of London legend and apparently resides at the bottom of the Thames after falling or being pushed from Waterloo Bridge.

There really is something for everyone interested in history and legends in The Secret Lore of London. The guide to the sites is invaluable for London residents and visitors alike, in fact anyone with a keen interest in London and British history. The chapters are written by various authors allowing access to the knowledge base of each author's specialism. Some chapters were of course more interesting than others to me, but each chapter managed to hold my interest and I finished the book a lot more knowledgeable about British history than when I started.

Filled with fascinating facts and captivating legends, there is something for everyone in The Secret Lore of London. From HandWiki. Namespaces Unsolved Discussion. More More Languages. Dewey Decimal. October 7, October 23, Category : Books about the paranormal. The book is also strong at recording folk customs, like the oyster-shell grottoes built by London's children until the s, jack-in-the-greens and beating the parish bounds ceremonies.

There's even a few modern phenomena, such as the 'Chelsea smilers' whose cheek-slashing legend terrorised playgrounds of the s. London folklore seems to be upping its game. Elsewhere, the penny dreadful was recently resurrected by our old friend Chris Roberts. And another major study of the capital's folklore is due from long-time Londonophile Antony Clayton in just a few days.

It's a crowded market, but Roud's compendium is the most thorough and readable we've seen to date. Unfortunately, the book seems to have been rushed through the editing stages, with numerous typos and one absolute howler that translocates Newgate prison to the Westminster section, placing it on the Strand presumably a mix-up between Old Bailey and Royal Courts of Justice. But don't let this put you off an otherwise excellent tome.

If anything, its errors re-enforce the central message that you shouldn't believe everything you read.