London In The Twentieth Century

London ended the twentieth century as it had begun it: a city of paradox.

In 1901 it was the greatest city the world had ever seen in size, population, wealth and grandeur. New forms of transport were transforming the urban landscape and its economy was booming. Yet London in 1901 was also a city where fifteen in a hundred babies died in their first year and where some 80,000 Londoners lived in workhouses.

Then in 2001: no longer even in the top-ten largest cities in the world, yet still one of the world's greatest, a place where heritage and culture are found in unparalleled concentrations, where vast wealth is highly visible, yet so, too, are young beggars sleeping on the streets.

Beautifully illustrated and with a wealth of local detail, this is a definitive, illuminating and highly readable history of London in the twentieth century.