London

This guide contains an encyclopaedic and historical section, 21 itineraries, 3 inserts and a practical section listing addresses and telephone numbers, opening times of museums, hotels, bars, restaurants, nightlife, theatres and shopping.;The encyclopaedic and historical section looks at the natural history of London and the ecosystem of the Thames and its tributaries; history, with a detailed chronology from Roman times, followed by inserts on the Great Fire and the Blitz; language - the origins of cockney; architecture - Wren and Inigo Jones, the city churches, Georgian London, the Victorian period and the 1930s suburbs; lifestyle; London as seen by writers; London as seen by painters, including Canaletto, Samuel Scott, Monet, Turner and Whistler.;The guide includes 21 itineraries to help the reader discover Westminster, the Temple, the City, Chelsea, Soho, Kensington, Notting Hill, Bloomsbury, Covent Garden, Southwark, the Docklands, Hampstead, Greenwich, Kew Gardens and Hampton Court. Three inserts present the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate, the Wallace collection; the Soane museum, St Paul's with Sir Christopher Wren's drawings and the Tower of London.