By David Tucker & The Guides
Virgin Books £9.99

Who better to tell the story of London than the guides who make a living out of escorting parties around the key sites. Based on the walks by the award winning tour company, this takes us back from the bustling metropolis to the times when farms and hamlets covered the west end and in more recent times characters like Shakespeare and even more rectly Jack The Ripper walked the streets. This book tells the story of characters who lived in the city and brings to life the pavements and buildings as we discover wht went on behind certain walls.

Find out that Westminster Abbey used to be on an island (Thorny Isle), a couple of branches of the Tyburn, and also where the literary giants used to hang out (and drink), as well as some of the more haunted places.
With illustrations and a few B&W photos in a centre spread, this is a much better approach than the standard guide book, and brings the streets alive. It doesn't act as a guide in the normal sense - i.e so and so tube station, turn left and then first right. Instead it rambles through anecdotes about London life with luminaries such as the discovery of Isadora Duncan and countless monarchs enjoying the ups and downs of life.

We discover villages tucked away, mews where the horses lived on the first floor and the famous Soho pubs. Throughout are tips on where to read the book, otherwise you are left to your own devices