Light Reading
I must first recommend a card and gift shop in South Kensington which is called Medici. Turn right out of South Ken tube and it’s about a 30 second walk on the right. I always, always use this place for cards, gift wrap etc. From tasteful to vulgar and all points between. Huge selection, friendly staff, I defy you to leave empty-handed.
Anyway, poking around in there about a year ago, I picked up a book called Divorced, Beheaded, Died… The History of Britain’s Kings and Queens in Bite-Sized Chunks (I’ll call it DBD from here). At 168 pages, it is exactly as described. It is the type of book that every child should own, one that a lazy GCSE candidate could use for cramming when it’s almost too late.
My guilty secret is that I use it all the time. Yes, I could reach for my Companion to British History or The London Encyclopaedia, but quite often you just need a quick backgrounder while you’re doing something else, and for that purpose, it’s perfect. Queen Anne: I knew virtually nothing. Now I know enough for the moment to tide me over. The Saxon Kings of England: Dark Ages (are we still allowed to call them that?) is not everyone’s cup of tea, but we should all know the basics, I think.
An example of something I got out of DBD just this morning: George I was the fifty-eighth in line to the throne and only got the gig by virtue of being the highest-ranking Protestant.
My DBD often resides in the lav. Frequently I used it for bedtime reading when too tired for the heavy stuff. At the moment, it’s right next to me, in case I need a quick look-up and can’t be bothered with Wikipedia, which can often be somewhat turgid.
DBD has an excellent index and is written by Kevin Flude, a musuem curator and lecturer. Cover price is £9.99 but you can get it from Amazon for five or six quid.
Which book is your guilty secret?
Must see if I can find a copy here
‘Dictionary of Victorian London’ By Lee Jackson is the book I use in the same way as you use this. Great if you have five minutes to kill, just to pick it up and open it on a random page, and likewise, just as good if you need to remind yourself of something like, oh, I don’t know, what was sold at Smithfield Market.
Great little book.
I usually don’t know what I want to know until I discover that I want to know it, if you follow me. So I don’t currently have a book I browse in. I am looking to extend my library, though, so your suggestion elicits my interest.
I use search engines a lot for finding out things. It’s remarkable what you can find out – and just as remarkable what you can’t. There are amazing gaps. You need vast patience, though, as sifting a search engines’ returns is like going through the dustbins: there’s lots of rubbish and the occasional gem. But – oh! – the excitement when you discover that gem!
The most intriguing is when you assemble several sources and they disagree among themselves. Who is right and how can I find out?! More sifting through the bins…!
@AmateurCasual My other favourite light reading London history book is David Long’s Little Book of London. Full of gems.
@SilverTiger For exploring, as I know you enjoy, Historic London An Explorer’s Companion by Stephen Inwood is excellent. Drills right down to street number level for Jacobean houses, to give just one example. Secret London by Andrew Duncan is pretty good, with some sample walks. For the suburbs (although he covers all areas) Russ Willey’s London Gazetteer is comprehensive – out of print currently, but gettable on Amazon.
Thanks for the recommendations. I have noted them and gone for the Gazeteer as that seems the best one to start with.
More on that when I have had a chance to look at it!