Unseen London

by Peter Dazeley (Photographer), Mark Daly (Contributor)

From Tower Bridge to Battersea Power Station, Big Ben to the Old Bailey – embark on a thrilling tour of the hidden interiors of some of London's most iconic buildings.
 
Unseen London takes you deep into the boiler room of the city's infrastructure, into the changing rooms of our greatest temples of sport, into the heart of the Establishment, and behind the scenes at the most opulent buildings in the Square Mile. Photographs of these extraordinary buildings  are accompanied by  thoughtful text , which tells the story of how each of these places was created, how they are used, and what they reveal about the currents of power flowing through the city .
 
Revised and updated to include the royal palaces of Hampton Court; the Tower of London; the Inigo Jones Banqueting Hall at Palace of Whitehall; and the Royal Courts of Justice, Supreme Court and Bow Street Magistrates Court.
 
See a glimpse of London behind closed doors with this unique guide to the city's buildings.
 
The
Battersea Power Station; Tower Bridge; Thames Barrier; Crossness and Abbey Mills Pumping Station; BT Tower; Aldwych Underground Station; Kidderpore Reservoir; County Hall; Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Big Ben; Whitechapel Bell Foundry; Harrow School; 10 Downing Street; The Supreme Courts and Royal Courts of Justice; Bow Street Magistrates’ Court; Old Bailey; HM Prison Wandsworth; Honourable Artillery Company; Old Royal Naval College; Horse Guards and Hyde Park Barracks; Royal Hospital Chelsea; Secret Military Bunker, Codenamed ‘Paddock’; In and Out Club; The Old War Office; Abbey Road Studios; Television Centre, White City; BBC Broadcasting House; Angels Costumes; Daily Express Building, Fleet Street; Hampton Court Palace; Tower of London; King Henry VIII’s Wine Cellar; The Banqueting House; 33 Portland Place; New West Synagogue; Lambeth Palace; St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street; St Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral; St Christopher’s Chapel; Freemason’s Hall; Queen’s Club; Lord’s Cricket Ground; Repton Boxing Club; Midland Bank; Bank of England; Mansion House; Guildhall; City of London School; Billingsgate Roman House and Bath.
 

Genres: History, Art, London

272 pages, Hardcover

Published September 7, 2017

Reviews

[Andrew Ives · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous, glossy giant of a book, beautiful enough to adorn any coffee table. The photography by Dazeley is rather marvellous throughout and the printers/publishing layout designers have done a suitably wonderful job in showing it in its full glory. Most of the places featured herein have around 5 or 6 pages dedicated to each. There are around 50 such places in several categories, making up a book of almost 300 pages, which felt about the right length for a read of this nature. The selection of places is rather varied - Battersea Power Station, Old Bailey, Hampton Court Palace, Bank of England - and as Dazeley himself says in his photographer's notes, he has captured many of them for historical posterity before modernisation and property development engulfs them forever. I'm not surprised it took him 4yrs of work to gain access to all these buildings. The only fly in the ointment here is that the accompanying text was less than dazzling and the proofreading was really quite woeful. There are dozens of glaring errors throughout the book which I found quite maddening. If I was making a new edition, I would fix these, add a map of London inside the back cover and increase the font size of the faint italic captions below the photos. That said, I would like to read Dazeley's other books and this one has inspired me to visit several of London's famous buildings. 4.5/5

[Jeff Howells · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a bit of a hobby of mine buying books about London, this is a lavish picture book about the ‘unseen’ parts of London, be they underground or behind closed doors. Palaces jostle with prisons within the covers of this book. Some locations have been abandoned whilst others are still in daily use. What is perhaps surprising is how marvellous the architecture is of even functional buildings (e.g. the control rooms of Battersea Power station). There is a lot of opulence on show and not just in the churches. A good book to open at random and marvel at the photos.

[Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This offers a super-cool glimpse into places in London you likely have never seen. Among my favorites were some I wouldn't have expected to enjoy (pipes in basements, and whatnot).

[Jonny Brick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond the tourist traps London has an even richer heritage than anyone can fathom. With superlative photos and excellent text, every coffee table book from Stanmore to Stamford Hill to Stamford Bridge should have one!