The Dreadful Judgement: The True Story of the Great Fire of London

by Neil Hanson

If the story that struck the Grand Banks off Newfoundland in October 1991 was The Perfect Storm, the fire that destroyed London in September 1666 was The Perfect Fire.

A fire needs only three a spark to ignite it, and the fuel and oxygen to feed it. In 1666, a ten-month drought had turned London into a tinderbox. The older parts of the city were almost entirely composed of wood-frame buildings and shanties. The riverside wharves were stack with wood, coal, oil, tallow, hemp, pitch, brandy, and almost very other combustible material known to seventeenth century man. On 2 September 1666, London ignited. Over the next five days the gale blew without interruption and the resulting firestorm destroyed the whole city.

THE DREADFUL JUDGEMENT tells the true, human story of the Great Fire of London through the eyes of the individuals caught up in it. It is a historical story combining modern knowledge of the physics of fire, forensics and arson investigation with the moving eye-witness accounts to produce a searing depiction of the terrible reality of the Great Fire of London and its impact on those who lived through it.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, 17th Century, London, British Literature

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

It's been a long and winding road... since graduating with a degree in philosophy (now that's useful...) I've been by turns plasterer's mate, holiday camp redcoat, ice cream salesman, exhibition organiser, art critic, rugby league commentator, freelance journalist, editor of the Good Beer Guide, owner of the highest pub in Great Britain and - finally! - a full-time author. It may not be an ideal career path, but it's given me a wealth of experiences that I draw on constantly in my own work.

I'm the author of over 50 published books. Under my own name I usually write narrative non-fiction a.k.a. popular history (though my sales figures suggest that it's never quite as popular as I'd like it to be...), but I have also written a serious novel, a few thrillers, two screenplays, travel writing and even a play-script for a musical as well. And in my day job as a professional "ghostwriter" I've written over forty other books, including a New York Times Number One best-seller.
I've spoken about my work at lectures, writers' festivals and other events all over the world and, when not writing, I'm often to be found riding my bike in the country around my home on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

1666 London and the fire to end all fires. I can't imagine having a fire like that raze your house, your neighborhood and your city to the point all land marks were gone and people couldn't find where their house even was....that is if they survived. There was no Red Cross or welfare and people died from being out in the elements with no food. 80% of the City of London was homeless after that fire! The heat was so intense it melted glass, iron and steel which means that would cremate humans. The fats in your body act like tallow in a candle! No accurate death count exists as people were turned to ash.
Good read about a cataclysmic event.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took way longer to read than it should have. I can't put my finger on it, but something about this book just never got me going. I read 2-4 pages every time I picked it up and either fell asleep or lost interest. It's a fairly good and informative book, I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it was the writing style. Maybe it was the extensive use of street names or areas I have no clue about. I'm not sure. I can see why others found the book enjoyable, but I just wanted to get it over with.

[Mark Hartzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the great city of London is constantly reinventing itself, there is so much history included therein that it simply cannot be avoided. For example, before there was a “Fleet Street”, there was the River Fleet of which the word “Fleet” derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word “fleot” meaning a tidal inlet. Before it was paved over, the Fleet was a working river or large creek. Here is the author describing the lovely scene in 1660s London: p. 11

“Hair and gobbets of rotting flesh and fat flensed from cowhides littered the banks of the ditch, along with dead dogs, rubbish of all sorts, and offal carried down Fleet Lane and dumped by the butchers from the Newgate Shambles. But worse even than these was the stench from the tanners’ curing pits dug into the banks of the Fleet, where the raw hides were cured in a solution largely composed of dog turds and urine. Among all this filth, lumbering black-bristled pigs rooted and foraged, fighting over the choices scraps, as clouds of flies filled the air, dense as the pall of smoke above them.”

As one of those tourists who have gawked at “The Monument”, I didn’t have much understanding of how the Great Fire of 1666 truly changed the face of London. Old medieval London was incinerated that September of 1666 and the more modern version rose upon the ashes. And ashes they were: p. 114

“Cobbles and paving blocks glowed red, and molten lead from the roofs ran down the gutters like rainwater, setting the waters boiling in the Fleet Ditch. So fierce were the fires that the dead were burned in their graves six feet belowground in the yard surrounding the chapel.”

Great writing about a transformative event in a great city. Very good indeed.

[Daphne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. It felt like a mix of real history and imagination of what it would have most likely been like for the individuals. I've never read a book that gave such a play by play of this moment in history. I'd recommend it, but with caveats about the possible imagining of individual feelings/events.

[SP · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know whether the physical book has maps, but the movement of the fire was hard to track in the audiobook version (at least for those of us less familiar with Restoration London). Still an interesting story, and author Neil Hanson does a good job of bringing modern science to bear (as much as can be over 300 years after the fact). The audiobook is read by Simon Prebble, who does his usual wonderful job.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

togs. Unabridged and read by Simon Prebble

This is a hack piece of sensationalist retro-reporting that wouldn't be out of place on TV and as such, only palatable in small wedges, whereupon readers would be advised to find interim pockets of fun, and my distraction is The Complete Talking Heads

[Velvetink · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE TRUE STORY OF THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

Well researched and accurate, a historical detective story, meticulously researched, vividly told, which combines modern knowledge of the physics of fire, forensics and arson investigation with the moving eye-witness accounts contained in contemporary documents, private papers and personal letters.

[Mike Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on the famous fire. Lots of interesting details, including the recorded causes of death in London prior to the plague and subsequent fire. I should have guessed that one of the most common was bad teeth. Thank God for modern dentists.

[Stephen Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobody could accuse Neil Hanson of not writing a gripping story. This account of the Great Fire of London fairly tears along, from the closing stages of the plague that preceeded it, to the condition of the poorer quarters of the town on the eve of the fire, to the disaster and its aftermath. His gaze shifts rapidly from the highest levels of the court of King Charles II to the primitive relief camps outside London.

Hanson takes issue with the traditional death toll of four people, although he seems to accept that these are the only deaths that are known with certainty to hsve occurred. Knowing what we do after Black Saturday, it is hard to disagree with the assertion that the actual loss of life was hundreds or even thousands that number. Intriguingly, he leaves open the possibility that the fire may in fact have been started deliberately by French or Dutch saboteurs.

A connecting thread in the story is the experience of the baker, Thomas Farriner, whose shop is traditionally thought to be the cause of the fire. He shifts between details which seem to have been drawn from contemporary accounts to narrative which seems to be a mix of inference, conjecture and speculation. This is the unsettling part of the book: it is difficult to tell precisely where the history ends and the imagination begins. This makes it hard to trust his commentary on (say) the likely cause of the fire. The situation is not helped by inexcusably poor footnoting. For example, claiming Samuel Pepys' colossal diary as a source is useless when the reference simply refers to "Samuel Pepys, Diary" or "Samuel Pepys, op. cit.". A first-year Arts student would not be allowed this sort of scholarly sleight of hand, and Hanson's editor should not have permitted it either.

This book is a good yarn, and perhaps a good place to start researching London of the 1660s, but it would be a poor place to stop.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

[1.5 stars...GOODREADS—give us half-star ratings already, would you?]

OMG, where's a good editor when you need one? Honestly, this book seemed more like someone's master's thesis than it did a commercially published work. Here's how I can sum it all up: First, this burned. Then, that burned. Then, that other thing burned. And on and on. Plus, how many times can one person use the word "cauterized"? Way too many, it seems.

Here are my major issues:
- The author is describing a London that in no way resembles the current city. How about giving us some modern-day landmarks to help orient us to what we know?
- This book is all about fire and how it burns through a city and a landscape. But it's not until we're about 3/5ths of the way through the book (and the burning) that we get some scientific information on how fire burns, how it interacts with various materials, etc. We needed that information almost before the fire started, for goodness sake!
- Okay, so they hung Robert Hubert for his confession that he started the fire. Do we need a whole chapter on the various kinds of tortures that could be used on various types of criminals...none of which were applicable to Hubert's situation? Not to mention, do we need to know how they prepared dead bodies so they would last a long time when displayed hanging from city bridges (Hubert was not displayed in this way). I think not.

Net: this woulda/coulda/shoulda been a much better book than it was.

[bup · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hanson wrote a page-turner, even if I was momentarily put off by the hyperbolic claims in the beginning that it was the biggest fire in history in the biggest city in the world.

I learned a lot, and if there's ever another edition, I hope he looks at the section at the end where he relates, without critique, that fire chiefs 'estimate' that 80% of fires are caused by arson but most of them can't be detected. Even on the face of it, coming to a conclusion when something can't be measured should make anyone with a scientific bent uncomfortable.

In the second place, since the writing in 2001, we've learned that a lot of fire expert 'knowledge' was just multi-generational argument from authority:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/67304l0ptuh...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investig...

[Francisca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neil Hanson's exhaustive study on the Great Fire of London should satiate anyone's curiosity on the subject with 'exhaustive' being the operative word. what this book manages to cover: the day before the fire, the passing of the fire itself throughout London over the course of four days, the story of the man (ultimately) accused and charged with starting it, how fire works, how seventeenth-century executions work, the aftermath of the fire in the city, and the socio-cultural context of 1666 London.

the absolute high of such an overarching, detailed account is its first chapter. framed as the 'day before,' Hanson manages to build a sense of suspense as one follows the owner of the epicentre of the destruction walking from one point of the city to the other, encountering all forms of potential ignition points. the possible lowest point of attention comes with Hansen's exhaustive account of every single street, passage, and significant building caught in the grips of the flames. information that could have been conveyed in a single page is extended and expanded into multiple chapters; whether this proves worth noting would depend on each individual reader. the sense that these chapters could have been an email is hard to shake.

[nikki_dun · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took two months, but I've finally finished this book! And I actually really liked it!

In my opinion, it's not a book you can "binge read," but rather a book that you pick up every few days and read a chapter or so at your leisure. Or at least if you're reading it for fun like I was.

London in the 1600s is a special interest of mine, so this was a really interesting and enjoyable read for me!

4/5 stars.

[Asha Stark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have loved Hanson's other books, but I guess every author has to have a bummer one day. I don't know if it's because the era in which the fire happened I find boring and tedious, or whether the writing was genuinely not as captivating as Hanson's others, I just couldn't get into this at all.

[Carole Hazell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Thoroughly researched, well illustrated, and written as a contemporary narrative through the eyes of historical persons.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a terrible time for London in 1665 & 1666. First the plague then the fire.

[Doris Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

NICE TITLE

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old favourite I always come back to!

[Huguette Larochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no memorial to them, but modern London was built on their bones and ashes.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using contemporary reports, reminiscences of those present, historical accounts and his own imagination and interpretation of events, Neil Hanson produces an enthralling account of the Great Fire of London.

It is gripping reading from start to finish, beginning with the plague and its aftermath, which is hardly over when the fire starts in Pudding Lane. After weeks of dry weather and drought, the closely built timber houses are ripe for catching fire and so they do. The fire spreads very quickly and any of the 300,000 inhabitants in its way is in trouble (London was so much bigger than any other city so much so that the next five largest towns, Norwich, Bristol, Newcastle, Exeter and York could muster only 80,000 between them).

There was just time to record in the London Gazette the outbreak of the fire and state on the first day 'It continues still with great violence'. Thereafter the printing works were burnt down so no further reports were made and consequently wild rumours circulated.

The fire spread rapidly and Hanson captures its ferocious journey through the London streets as though he were there. It spreads up the hill towards St Paul's and on the way destroys Stationer's Hall, the Dean's great house, Dean Colet's School and the personal library, reputedly the finest in the country, of Samuel Cromlehome, the High Master of the School.

King Charles II and his brother the Duke of York personally supervised some of the efforts to stop the fire spreading and put themselves in great danger by doing so but their efforts were much appreciated by their countrymen. Apparently the King showed leadership as he had never displayed previously - and it was said he was never to show again!

Finally after four days the fire began to die down and once it had done so the question of rebuilding the city was raised. There were strict rules put in place for the rebuild, such as all buildings had to be constructed of brick or stone, minimum thickness for walls was declared and the maximum number of storeys was four.

Finally the cause of the fire was investigated and a Frenchman, a Catholic, Robert Hubert eventually confessed to starting the fire with a fireball in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane. How true this was is not clear for the captain of the ship in which Hubert sails was later to swear that Hubert had not left the ship by the time of the fire starting. Be that as it may he was found guilty and duly hanged much to the pleasure of the watching multitude who were convinced that he was guilty.

'The Dreadful Judgement' is an exciting read and leaves the reader worn out at the end with its thrills and pace and also grateful for not being there at the time!

[Hugh Ashton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Hanson's book about the Armada (The Confident Hope of a Miracle: The True Story of the Spanish Armada) and bought this title about the 1666 Fire of London second-hand through Amazon. It's a good read, but it promises a lot and then delivers rather disappointingly.

It is definitely extensively researched - Hanson obviously spent time with fire-fighters and with those responsible for tracking down and examining arsonists, as well as taking a lot of trouble with the historical side, which relies, as one might expect, on Evelyn and Pepys for a lot of the detail.

He is honest enough to admit in the preface where he has invented details. Certainly he brings characters to life, and he dramatises events, and re-creates the smells and the foulness of 17th-century London in loving detail (I have the feeling he rather enjoys himself in the middens and cesspits of Restoration London). Perhaps too much for my taste, but it does make the whole thing come alive. I read the whole thing very quickly, largely as a result of this easy style.

The introduction teases. It talks about the myth that a mere half-dozen people died in the fire, which is patently absurd, but then fudges the subject at the end of the day, coming up with no more than an informed guess (maybe that's all that can be made) with a margin of error of an order of magnitude or two.

Likewise, there are hints that a new revelation of the source of the Fire will be made in the book. This really doesn't come off. The case that he makes is weakly argued and not supported by very much evidence. Still, you are left wondering at the end of the day.

I was also put off by a factual error that should have been caught by the editor, at least, if not the author - a reference to "Thomas à Becket" (Wikipedia says "the name "Thomas à Becket" is not contemporary, and appears to be a post-Reformation creation, possibly in imitation of Thomas à Kempis"). Such an error gives me pause for thought when reading other "facts" mentioned in the book.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the good things about (a) being unemployed and (b) taking a relatively long Amtrak trip is that I've been reading lots of books and audiobooks. This one was a well-researched but not TOO scholarly history of the Great Fire "in that apocalyptic year 1666."

I was a bit surprised that, during the fire, people ran around yelling that the Dutch were behind it all and would be invading soon. It has never occurred to me to blame the Dutch for anything. I hadn't realized that the British were at war with the French and the Dutch at the time of the fire.

Very sad to read about the scapegoating of a mentally ill French man. Many people in the upper classes knew that he couldn't be guilty, but the sense was that the public needed someone to blame.

The author devotes one chapter of the book to the chemistry and physics of the fire, which was interesting if a bit technical.

It amused me to learn the bizarre names that some of London's streets and landmarks have. For instance: http://www.squidoo.com/unusuallondons...
My favorite is here: http://www.standrewbythewardrobe.net/

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable history of the Great Fire of London, and how it changed the face of the city forever. At times, it feels like pure fiction, because Hanson has effectively created a narrative for various significant figures throughout the events of the fire. But it's clear that he's done extensive amounts of research, so it never feels like it's just fabrication to fill in the gaps in the story.

It's not always an easy read. There's discussions of how the death toll is probably vastly underestimated, and of how people died during the fire. There's discussion of the punishment that was handed out to a mentally ill foreigner who was blamed for the fire. There's discussion of how many people died the following winter due to a lack of housing and food. There were times when it felt a little longer than was necessary, but on the whole it was an interesting read.

Although frankly? I think my favourite fact from this book is that Samuel Pepys buried his Parmesan cheese in the garden before fleeing from the fire. Priorities, yo. Pepys clearly had them.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Great Fire of London" is detailed and informative to a fault. I found myself bogged down in the exhaustive narrative, wishing the author would move more quickly through events. Hanson's research was extensive, and one gets the feeling that he found a way to include every note he ever made about the 1666 fire in the book! Still, I learned a great deal, and found his analysis even-handed. Hanson's inclusion of modern knowledge of pyrotechnics was also helpful. Overall, the book was worth reading, but could have been cut by a third.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked this book because of the educational history attached to it. however, it became a little too much at times. too much details --
i liked the fact that i was able to come away with the beginning, process, and conclusion of the great fire of london. also, the lifestyles of the time as well as the tech side of fire itself. i thought that added to the book.

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a little bogged down in historical fact wrapped around a family that started the fire. When reading, the author would go from historical accounts and then the next paragraph would pick up the story of the baker which was all fiction. I love this subject but felt this book was not the best to display such a history.

[Papayamariah Whurr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm using this book for some fictional research - I want to use the London fire in my current YA book.

Good for research - a little dense in spots for just an entertaining read. I picked up some facts and ideas though!

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hanson creates 1666 London in great detail. To the modern sensibilities, it must have been overwhelming. He then methodically goes through the city's destruction, and the potential reasons for the start of the fire. Loved the book.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. The bulk of the book is based on actual historical documents. Only in the introduction and conclusion does Hanson offer some personal opinion about the events. He does not just recite facts but brings the events to life.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of the geography of London was lost on me, but this is a terrific book about the plague and mass panic. Then, just when the attention begins to lag, there’s an unbelievable, compelling, and suspenseful set piece about a trial and a hanging.