The Little Book of London

by David Long

The Little Book of London is a funny, fact-packed compendium full of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or just strange-but-true stuff which no-one will want to be without. London's looniest laws, its most eccentric inhabitants, the realities of being royal, literally hundreds of wacky facts about the world's greatest city and some authentically bizarre bits of trivia combine to make it required reading for all first-time visitors and locals alike.

Genres: London, Nonfiction, Travel, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2007

About the author

Winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2017, writer and journalist David Long has regularly appeared in The Times and the London Evening Standard, as well as on television and radio. He has written more than 30 books for children and adults and lives in Suffolk.

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting little book of unusual facts about London.

Ideal for dipping into and a great source of trivia.

Highly Recommended.

[Esteban · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very "meh!"... The fun facts arent so funny and the distribution of the book is not the best one. There are a few places that I want to visit now because of this book, but nothing else.

[Luke John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Feels far too focused on the monarchy, and far too sycophantic in that.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ultimate Loo Book - chock full of halarious and downright random facts of London. It's really mean to be a dip in and out of book, but I must admit that I read it in 3 sessions - from the comfort of my couch.

Including the reason that policemen are called "Coppers and the Old Bill" and that Members of Parliament are still forbidden to attend the House wearing a full suit of armour. One thing I've always wanted to do though, is excercise my entitlement to drive sheep across London's bridges - this was done as recently at 1999 where a 60-year-old man did so, and was stopped by the police who investigated and then let him continue.

The illustrations are great as well - get this, it's seriously funny.

And yes, I finally gave into hubby's cry of "Get an e-reader to save the rainforests!" It's not bad, really handy especially for commuting; but I still prefer books. In fact I bought a couple the other day that weren't available on my e-reader. Ahhhh, paper.

Perfect for Anglophiles, Anoraks and Antipodeans. It's light-reading, it's full of 100s of facts and the awesome fact that Prince Charles once wrote a "Guide to chatting up girls".

[Tim]

Nice little book of facts about London. Popcorn, so to speak. Not terrible informative but a quick, fun read.