London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew

London Labour and the London Poor was an extremely important book of the Victorian era and is still used as a textbook on Victorian working-class life.

It was the first book of its kind, examining in great, almost forensic, detail the lives of the poor people of London.

It can with great reason be called ground-breaking because it was the first systemic examination of how the poor of London lived and worked.

It is a readable as a novel, so well-written and sympathetically drawn are the real people that Mayhew captured in print for the very first time.

This edition has been edited by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst who has done an excellent job in selecting items from the original two volumes. It includes some of the original illustrations, too.

It contains an introduction to Henry Mayhew and reveals how and why the book came to be written.

It is in paperback and costs £8.99 and is published by the OUP. It is published on 12th April and will be available from the That's Books bookshop.

Eat London

“2012 is rather an important year for London and the UK as we will be welcoming the world to our cities, so it is just as well that there has been something of a revolution in the UK – it is called the Café, Food and Restaurant Revolution. Even in these dire economic times they open every day of the week by keen young people for whom food has become a religion.” Terence Conran

This year all eyes will be on London. As host of the Olympic Games and centre of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, locals and visitors alike will be seeking out the best that London has to offer. Wallpaper Magazine recently named London the best city on the planet and it is now considered to be one of the most important food destinations in the world.

There have been many gastronomic changes in the capital since the first edition of Eat London was published in 2007. This completely revised and updated edition presents new entries highlighting the very best food stops not to be missed on a tour of London in 15 chapters.

The book is more than just a restaurant guide and provides a personal view of London’s food culture from a dream team of authors. Terence Conran and Peter Prescott share their passion for the city and make you feel like they are showing you around themselves. From cafes to bakeries, fishmongers to butchers, the food markets and pop-ups of east London to haute cuisine in Mayfair, entries are selected for their food quality and originality, as well as their decor, convivial ambiance, sense of tradition, and wonderful personalities.

www.octopus-publishing.co.uk
Eat London 2
All about food
Peter Prescott & Terence Conran
Published by Conran Octopus

April 2012 - Price £20
Each chapter encompasses a specific area of London with full address listings for every entry and suggestions of itineraries or fun things to do – for example the perfect Saturday in Notting Hill, or Flâneur Sundays in east London. More than 60 recipes appear throughout the book by some of Britain' s top chefs including for example Bruno Loubet, Pierre Koffman, Yotam Ottolenghi, Giorgio Locatelli and Bryn Williams. As well as signature dishes from restaurants such as Bocca di Lupo, Hawksmoor, Moro, Polpo, St John and many others.

Every entry has complete listings and can be located on the fold-out maps. All photographs are specially shot throughout by photographer Lisa Linder, illustrating London’s unique street-life and food culture.

THE AUTHORS
Terence Conran is one of the world’s leading restaurateurs and has transformed the experience of eating out in London with his many acclaimed restaurants. He is Chairman of Conran Holdings, the parent company of his retail and restaurant businesses, and Chairman of Conran & Partners, his architectural and design practice. His books include The Essential House Book; The Ultimate House Book; Chef’s Garden; Classic Conran and Terence Conran on London.

Peter Prescott has worked with Terence Conran since 2001 for the Conran Restaurants group. Before this he garnered experience at Claridge’s and Grosvenor House on Park Lane. In 2006 Peter and Terence formed a new company called Prescott & Conran Ltd., the venture responsible for the award-winning Boundary Hotel, Restaurant and Rooftop, plus Albion Café, Bakery and Shop, and Lutyens Restaurant, Bar and Cellar Rooms in London’s Fleet Street.

Praise for the first Eat London:
“This ingenious paperback will become as indispensable as a well-thumbed A-Z.” So London
“A handsome, detailed guide to shopping and eating out.” Rose Prince, Daily Telegraph
‘An essential for anyone who lives around London or simply visits and loves food” Woman & Home

Do you know London? Reader's Digest book makes you think again!

My wife knows London really well. She should do, she is a confirmed Tottenham Hotspurs fan,  and has relatives who still live in the area of North London.

But even she was interested, intrigued and amused by the book The Most Amazing Places to Visit in London.

Reader’s Digest takes you through some rather unusual parts of London

Reader’s Digest, one of Britain’s best loved brands, is giving people the chance to discover the more unusual places in London with a new book. Whether a Londoner born and bred or a first-time visitor, The Most Amazing Places to Visit in London guides us to the capital’s most closely guarded secrets and cherished local treasures that are unknown to many.

From the best place to play outdoor table tennis to a restaurant in a former asylum that also housed MI5 and MI6, there is plenty to surprise everyone. Small enough to fit into a handbag or satchel, this book, the latest in the highly successful “Most Amazing” series, is also a good armchair read as entries tell the story of each gem and are brought vividly to life with photographs. From the centre to the suburbs, the book is split into distinct areas of the capital, with maps to provide an at-a-glance guide when planning days out. There is a special section on the Olympic park, which looks at the architecture of the park itself while recounting London’s Olympic history.

Here is a small selection of some of the most quirky and unknown destinations highlighted:

· Three Mills Island on the Bow Back River, home to possibly the largest tidal mill in the world

· Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, one of the biggest, most ambitious and beautiful Hindu temples ever assembled and carved by 1,500 craftsmen

· London’s oldest pie and mash shop M.Manze’s, which was set up in 1902 (EDITOR: Fantastic pies and mash! Just thought I'd mention that!)

· Institut Francais, which holds the largest free-access collection of French films, music and books in the country, and houses a cinema

· Between Battersea Bridge and Albert Bridge is a flotilla of Thames barges which gives a home to a museum of art and events, featuring works by composer and performance artist Max Couper

· The View Tube, overlooking the Olympic park and built of recycled shipping containers, which provides a café and viewing tower for people without tickets to the Olympics

Rose Shepherd, author of The Most Amazing Places to Visit in London, comments:“This book is a chance for Londoners and visitors to discover the lesser known parts of the city, while finding out the quirky facts behind them. There is something in here for everyone who wants to see parts of London they have never discovered, whether world famous or locally known. Here is London in all its grime and glory, providing a little bit more than the usual guide book.”

(EDITOR: What my wife says: "This is a fantastic book! I just could not put it down! Although I do know London reasonably well, this book has taught me some things I did not know and reminded me of some things I had forgotten.")

The published price is £14.99, though it is available at the That's Books Amazon shop at the discounted price of £9.29.