Building London: The Making of a Modern Metropolis

The London cityscape has been intensely chronicled in photographs from daguerreotype to digital and is a visual laboratory for understanding the evolution of the modern city. This wonderful collection of images spans the city’s entire history, from ancient byways to beloved icons like St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, and the neon lights of Piccadilly Circus. Much of modern London was built as recently as the nineteenth century and captured by the immediacy of photography. Included are such paradigm-shifting moments as the rebuilding of Westminster Palace after the devastating fire of 1834 into the Houses of Parliament we know today, the construction of the world’s first underground transportation system, and even the latest architectural wave that has been radically transforming contemporary London, such as Norman Foster’s Swiss Re Tower (aka the Gherkin). Witness how this dynamic city was built (and rebuilt), becoming the popular destination known today for its royal palaces, lively outdoor markets, lavish department stores, peaceful garden squares, naturalistic parks, and many magnificent museums. This is the perfect book for Anglophiles and for anyone who has fallen for London’s many charms.