There is hardly a city in the world with richer historical and cultural associations than London, whose history goes back thousands of years. It is a place that has been at or near the center of national life for 1,000 years and at the forefront of international political, cultural, and economic history for each of the past five centuries. As you walk the streets of the capital, whether you live in the city or are just visiting it, Inwood will show you London's history all around you—stretches of Roman wall, medieval churches and Tudor houses that survived the Great Fire, monastic buildings that survived the Reformation, street markets first established centuries ago that survive today, Georgian streets and squares that were spared the wreckers' ball, and Victorian terraces and Inns of Court that survived the Blitz. He takes you to the London of Chaucer and Shakespeare, Dickens and Darwin, T. S. Eliot and George Orwell. It is the perfect book to have in your pocket or bag as you wander through this most fascinating of cities.