City Secrets: London (City Secrets)

As in the much-acclaimed City Secrets: Rome and City Secrets: Florence, Venice and the Towns of Italy, the quirkiness and individuality of the approach pays dividends here. The biographer and critic Fiona McCarthy gives a cogent and evocative essay about the Freud Museum in Finchley where Freud lived after his last-ditch flight from the Nazis, while interior decorator David Mlinaric is equally intriguing discussing London Underground design, which he conjures in an essay that will send readers out to discover the work of Eric Gill and Eduardo Paolozzi (whose mosaic murals may be found at Tottenham Court Road station). And journalist Ruth Pavey will have many of us up at 4am visiting Hampstead Heath to enjoy the dawn chorus and the bat walks: hers is one of the most fascinating essays in this invaluable little book. Part of the appeal of this series is its steadfast refusal to visit well-trodden paths; where it intersects with the more familiar guidebooks, there is always an idiosyncratic approach that marks it out as something much more interesting. --Barry Forshaw

Reader Reviews:

No practical information at all, just whispers .... (2/2 people found this helpful)

In the hundreds of travel books about London this one surely stands out. You won't find any information on general opening hours, the 10 best restaurants or anything that practical. This book contains small chapters on what a group of Londoners consider to be something worth visiting or trying out. I would recommend it without question, simply because in my case this book pointed me to the best cup of coffee I have had. I am sure you'll find something interesting there as well.

Disappointing (5/14 people found this helpful)

The secrets this book discloses aren't secrets at all; the title is misleading. It's OK as a pocket guide to interesting things in London, but there's little in it that doesn't make volumes like the Time Out guide or Lonely Planet, and these other guides have more practical information.

It's no secret. This is a little gem. (13/13 people found this helpful)

LONDON, of the City Secrets series of travel guides, is a little gem that will easily fit into a pocket of your travel vest as you set out to explore what is arguably the world's greatest city.

This volume, small in size but rich in information, divides Britain's capital into thirteen areas according to a scheme that escapes me. However, no matter. Each area, e.g. Hyde Park & Chelsea, The City, Oxford Street & Mayfair, or The East End & Beyond, is preceded by a map on which is marked each point of interest included in that section. And what you will find are both famous and little-known museums, historic buildings, art galleries, libraries, shops, pubs, churches, eateries, parks, squares, streets, memorials, and gardens. Each includes, at least, an address or location and the name of the nearest Underground or rail station. If relevant, there's also a phone number and/or the date the place was founded or constructed. The core of each listing is a short descriptive commentary by a contributing journalist, architect, philosopher, playwright, professor, author, historian, poet, curator, or some other professional of similar dignity. At the end of the book are an Index of Recommended Reading and an Index of Contributors. What you won't find are budget hotels, American fast-food franchises, newsagents, or 24-hour chemists (pharmacies) reviewed by backpacking college students, traveling salesmen, lorry drivers, or tourists from the Midwest. This is a genteel publication.

LONDON is a delightful and uncommonly intelligent sightseeing resource for those of us who've been to the city often enough to have exhausted the usual tourist activities and are left with making silly faces at the Buckingham Palace guard to try and crack his reserve. And besides the information that might be considered usual for each of the listings, the contributors also provide tidbits of arcane information that the casual visitor would likely not know or learn...

A brilliantly unique guide to London (19/20 people found this helpful)

The London City Secrets sets itself apart from other guidebooks by offering fresh insights and personal observations from a wonderful selection of cultural figures that know London inside out. The real charm is the fact that any Londoner or tourist alike can discover a wonderfully idiosyncratic and traditional new side to a city they may think they already know. The beauty is, in no small part, due to the wide variety of contributors who are all in their own way passionate in their interest of whichever building, event, shop or stroll to which they elude.

The pocket book is stylish and beautifully presented and therefore also does away with the feeling that everyone can see you are following a guidebook! It's split into easy to follow areas each with a map and key although sadly there are no pictures which would probably prove a bit of a disappoint to the tourist who would generally not even be able to visualise the area.

City Secrets: London (City Secrets)

Tim Adams

Editorial Review:

Reader Reviews:

No practical information at all, just whispers .... (2/2 people found this helpful)

Disappointing (5/14 people found this helpful)

It's no secret. This is a little gem. (13/13 people found this helpful)

A brilliantly unique guide to London (19/20 people found this helpful)

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