London: The Secrets and the Splendor
by Nick Yapp
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Book Summary Information
Author: Nick YappPhotographer: Rupert Tenison
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-04
ISBN: 3829004842
Number of pages: 350
Publisher: Konemann
Book Reviews of London: The Secrets and the Splendor
Book Review: Better than a stack of "regular" guide books
Summary: 5 Stars
On the one hand, this oversized-but-not-quite-coffee-table book isn't really a guidebook, certainly not in the mold of Fodor's or Frommer's. There is no list of hotels and restaurants, no star-ratings, no chapter on "where to take the kids," no advice on where to get your money changed. On the other hand, this is the best all-round travel book about London I have ever had the pleasure of losing myself in. Reading this book, especially if you have at least a superficial familiarity with London, is like strolling through the city with an urbane, witty, and very knowledgeable uncle, someone who knows everybody and every place in it. For example: On a rainy day, you can go to the Sloane Square station of the Underground and listen to the remnants of the River Westbourne sloshing through a conduit overhead. You can visit Leadenhall Market and know who designed the roof. You can read the "Cockney Alphabet," or discover what happened to the Crystal Palace, or learn the ins and outs of the Chelsea Flower Show. You can find out why Brixton smells different than other neighborhoods, where the psychological division between north and south London originated, and how the Thames Barrier works. Or what happened at the first-ever FA Cup Final at Wembly in 1923. Or where Princess Diana bought her shoes. Or why you mustn't miss the engine room at Tower Bridge. Or why Old Billingsgate was more glamourous -- and much more fun -- than New Billingsgate. Because it was published six years ago now, some things have changed; Jack Straw's Castle, an inn and pub Yapp recommends for a visit, has now been sold and carved up into condos. But Hampstead Heath hasn't changed, and neither has Portobello Road. The eclectic topics covered are gathered into eight sections, either geographical (The Thames, The City, Westminster) or by subject, and each topic neatly fills a two-page spread, so you can really open the volume anywhere and just read. And every one of the 350 pages has at least one photo and often more -- most of them shot specifically for this book by Rupert Tenison. Yapp, a Londoner-born, also is obviously an afficionado of pubs. No matter what corner of the metropolis he's escorting you through, you can bet he'll point out the best watering-holes along the way, with something of their histories and unique personalities and notable regulars of the past -- nor does he hesitate to note those chains and themed houses that aren't worth spending your coin in. This is a truly marvelous book, nicely conceived, beautifully written, gorgeously illustrated. My attention actually was brought to it by an American friend, an historian, who has lived and worked in London for more than twenty years -- and who had discovered in it a great many things he didn't know and places he wasn't familiar with. It's out of print, unfortunately, but buy it used or get it through Inter-Library Loan -- but read it.
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