London's Strangest Tales: The Thames: Extraordinary but True Stories

by Iain Spragg

More than 1,000 years of unbelievable-but-true tales of London's main waterway

The 19th-century MP John Burns described the Thames as "liquid history" and ever since the Romans founded Loninium in 43 AD, the river has played a key cultural, economic, political, and social role in the history of England. This book reveals the bizarre, funny, and surreal events and episodes over the centuries that have occurred on, beneath, and along the banks of the famous waterway. From appearances of the world's first submarine to the raid on the Sex Pistols river concert, Lord Nelson's final journey to John Prescott's watery protest, the River Thames really has witnessed it all.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published October 1, 2014

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This smallish book contains even smaller stories (usually 2 or 3 pages) humorously depicting odd events on the Thames. The good thing is that many of the stories are obscure. The odd thing is that many don’t take place in London. “London” is the first word in the title. The stories often take place anywhere on the river’s length (215 or 226 miles as explained in the book). Spragg covers everything from a polar bear cooling off in the river in 1252 to floods, piranhas, to maybe my favorite bit—the first monarch to take a submarine trip.

Good for those collecting weird bits for conversation. If you want authentic history, dive deeper.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stories, the authors comments make them even funnier. Looses a star for not having any from my year of birth :)

[Angela Cowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable selection of short true tales about events that have happened along the Thames, going right back to AD635 and up to 2014.

[Julian White · Rating 3 out of 5]

A definite bedside or loo book, this - mainly two page anecdotes about the Thames arranged chronologically, usually with a slightly amused set to the writing.