London Revisited

London Review of Books
London Review of Books
  • 5.0 (2)
  • History
  • Monthly

From its beginnings as a backwater of the Roman Empire to its heyday at the heart of the British Empire and up to the eve of the Great War, Rosemary Hill charts London’s history through waves of expansion and contraction with the help of historians, antiquaries and archaeologists. London's past is everywhere beneath its streets, in the geology and archeology of its deep and ancient history, and in its mythic lives, in William Blake's Albion and Cobbett's 'Great Wen', the home of Dick Whittington and King Lud. This will be the London described by Tacitus, Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf, a city shaped by Boudicca, Christopher Wren and Joseph Bazalgette, and a story of countless disasters, recoveries and triumphs unfolding over more than 2,000 years. Rosemary Hill is a writer, historian and contributor to the London Review of Books. Her books include ‘God's Architect', 'Stonehenge' and ‘Time’s Witness: History in the Age of Romanticism’.  To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk What is Close Readings? Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books that covers different periods and themes of literature, history and philosophy. Each year there are several series running simultaneously, with a new episode appearing every week. Subscribe to Close Readings for access to all past and current series (see links above).

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Episodes

  1. 4 days ago

    The Monster

    In 1737, Samuel Johnson and his student David Garrick decided to walk to London from Lichfield in search of opportunity. It worked out well for both of them, but for many of the large number who made their hopeful journey to the capital from all over the country in the 18th century, life was more likely to end up like a scene from a Hogarth print, ruined by gin and despair. London had become a ‘great and monstrous thing’ according to Daniel Defoe. However, if you were lucky enough to survive childhood, and gin, and have a bit of money, it was an increasingly pleasant monster, offering strolls through grand squares and pleasure gardens, and shops displaying a dizzying variety of goods from all over the world alongside cheap copies of a new literary form: the novel. To discuss London’s emergence as a brutal city of consumption and cultural innovation, Rosemary is joined again by Markman Ellis, a professor of 18th-century studies at Queen Mary University of London. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applesignuplr⁠⁠⁠ Other podcast apps: ⁠⁠⁠https://lrb.me/scsignuplr⁠⁠ Read more in the LRB: Clare Bucknell on Samuel Richardson: https://lrb.me/lrep1001 John Mullan on Pamela: https://lrb.me/lrep1002 Rosemary Hill on Hogarth: https://lrb.me/lrep1003 Tom Paulin on Daniel Defoe: https://lrb.me/lrep1004 Claude Rawson on Henry Fieldings: https://lrb.me/lrep1005 What is Close Readings? Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books that covers different periods and themes of literature, history and philosophy. Each year there are several series running simultaneously, with a new episode appearing every week. Subscribe to Close Readings for access to all past and current series (see links above).

  2. 7 Sept

    Coffee, Satire and Bubbles

    The coffee served in London in the 1690s was notoriously unappetising, likened at the time to ‘burnt shoes and charcoal’. Nonetheless it was extremely popular, not least for the energy and locations it provided for two great booms in London life: financial speculation and a genuinely public print culture. For this episode, Rosemary is joined by Markman Ellis, professor of 18th-century studies at Queen Mary University of London, to look at the architecture, literature and culture of ‘politeness’ that emerged after the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688, and the stories spun out of it by Daniel Defoe and John Gay. They discuss the coffee houses where London’s stock exchange and marine insurance market were created, the front rooms where women enjoyed the new ‘visiting system’ and the increasingly hazardous streets where Moll Flanders and others sought their fortune. Reading by Fiona Sheehan Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applesignuplr⁠⁠ Other podcast apps: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/scsignuplr⁠ Read more in the LRB: Steven Shapin on coffee: https://lrb.me/lrep901 Tom Paulin on Defoe: https://lrb.me/lrep902 Michael Ledger-Lomas on the South Sea Company: https://lrb.me/lrep903 What is Close Readings? Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books that covers different periods and themes of literature, history and philosophy. Each year there are several series running simultaneously, with a new episode appearing every week. Subscribe to Close Readings for full access to all past and current series (see links above). Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

  3. 10 Aug

    Pepys, Plague and Fire

    The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 brought a flurry of changes to London life. Women were allowed to appear on stage for the first time, the Royal Society was founded and the West End, with its squares, parks and fashionable ‘season’, was born. But the social whirl stopped abruptly in 1665 with the arrival of plague, which was followed in 1666 by the catastrophic Great Fire of London. To talk about these events and the new city that emerged from the ashes, Rosemary is again joined by Vanessa Harding, emerita professor of London history at Birkbeck. They look at the invaluable observations of Samuel Pepys, the continental ambitions of Christopher Wren and the emergence of political parties from the succession crisis of the 1680s. Reading by Duncan Wilkins Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applesignuplr⁠⁠ Other podcast apps: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/scsignuplr⁠ Further reading in the LRB: Margaret Anne Doody on Aphra Behn: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep801⁠ Deborah Friedell on Samuel Pepys: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep802⁠ Simon Schaffer on Christopher Wren: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep803⁠ James Shapiro on plague writing: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep804⁠

  4. 6 Aug

    The Road to Civil War

    When James VI of Scotland arrived in London in 1603 to become the first ‘King of Great Britain’, expectations were high. They were soon disappointed, not least for the Catholics who tried to blow him and half of Westminster up in 1605. But the plot failed, and with James’s reign came a new, lavish court life, the emergence of the first newspapers amid the booming print industry around St Paul’s, and, with the guidance of Inigo Jones, the arrival of the renaissance in London’s architecture with the development of Covent Garden and the first of the city’s squares. To continue her story of London, Rosemary is joined again by Vanessa Harding to see why James’s Stuart settlement eventually failed under the personal rule of Charles I, leading to a civil war in which London became the financial and military headquarters for the victorious Parliamentarians and James’s grand new banqueting house at Whitehall was used as the backdrop for his son’s execution. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/applesignuplr⁠⁠ Other podcast apps: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/scsignuplr⁠ Read more in the LRB: Perry Anderson on the Civil War: ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v15/n21/perry-anderson/maurice-thomson-s-war⁠ Blair Worden on the Civil War: ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v13/n16/blair-worden/conrad-russell-s-civil-war⁠ Maggie Kilgour on Milton and London: ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n20/maggie-kilgour/pens-and-heads⁠ John Gallagher on Early Modern news: ⁠https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n03/john-gallagher/quickly-quickly-quickly⁠

  5. 18 Jun

    Shakespeare’s City

    When Thomas Platter, a Swiss tourist, went to see ‘Julius Caesar’ at the Globe Theatre in 1599, it wasn’t Shakespeare’s language that attracted his attention but the ready availability of refreshments and the high quality of the players’ clothes. The revolution in playmaking that he witnessed on the south bank of the Thames reflected widespread innovations in London’s cultural life in the reign of Elizabeth I. For the first time, we can see the city clearly, in the panoramas and maps inspired by Dutch artists. New ideas about history are emerging in the works of Stow and Holinshed. And the growth of trade through piracy, with a new centre of commerce in Thomas Gresham’s Royal Exchange, marks the beginning of England's imperial expansion. In this episode, Rosemary is joined again by Vanessa Harding to discuss this extraordinary moment in London’s history and some of the reasons behind it, from Elizabeth’s genius for survival to the city’s lack of a university. Reading by Duncan Wilkins Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://lrb.me/applesignuplr⁠ Other podcast apps: ⁠https://lrb.me/scsignuplr⁠ Read more in the LRB: Charles Nicholl on Elizabethan true crime: https://lrb.me/lrep601 Michael Dobson on Shakespeare's life: https://lrb.me/lrep603 Colin Burrow on Walter Raleigh: https://lrb.me/lrep02

  6. 18 May

    The Protestant Capital

    At the start of the 16th century London was still recognisably medieval, crowded within its walls, dominated by churches and monasteries and deeply tied to Catholic Europe. By the end of Henry VIII’s reign, much of that world had vanished. The Reformation not only changed the religious practices of its inhabitants, it brought a widespread transfer of property that reshaped the character and activity of the city and turned it into a theatre of power, punishment and debate. Rosemary is joined by Vanessa Harding, emerita professor of London history at Birkbeck, University of London, to look at the events that transformed London into a commercially expanding and ideologically contested Protestant capital under the Tudors, from the arrival of Caxton’s printing press in Westminster and the beginnings of an aristocratic West End to Mary I’s brutal attempt to restore Catholic England. Reading by Duncan Wilkins Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://lrb.me/applesignuplr⁠ Other podcast apps: ⁠https://lrb.me/scsignuplr⁠ Read more in the LRB: Hilary Mantel on England under Mary I: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/lrep504⁠⁠ Lucy Wooding on Henry VIII and the merchants: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/lrep502⁠⁠ Patrick Collinson on Henry VIII's Reformation: ⁠⁠https://lrb.me/lrep503

    The Protestant Capital

  7. 20 Apr

    Plague, Rebellion and Guilds

    If historians of medieval London had a patron saint, it might well be Edward I. While many English monarchs chose to leave London to its own devices, Edward decided from the start of his reign in 1272 to put pressure on the city to justify its liberties. The result was a profusion of bureaucracy, most notably in the Letter Books, that describe the life of London and its people in vivid detail, from disputes, petitions and regulations to the names of all the city’s apprentices. This record-keeping was good for the city too, reinforcing a powerful system of guilds supporting hundreds of trades and a flourishing merchant and consumer culture. But when the Black Death arrived in England in 1348, London’s population was devastated, and its social and economic life transformed. In this episode, Rosemary is joined again by Matthew Davies, professor of urban history at Birkbeck, to look at how England’s capital coped both with its rapid rise in the first half of the 14th century and a long period turmoil thereafter, including the Hundred Years’ War, the revolts of Wat Tyler and Jack Cade, and the Wars of the Roses. Reading by Duncan Wilkins Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr Read more in the LRB: Tom Johnson: No More Baubles: ⁠https://lrb.me/lrep401⁠ What is Close Readings? Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books that covers different periods and themes of literature, history and philosophy. Each year there are several series running simultaneously, with a new episode appearing every week. Subscribe to Close Readings for full access to all past and current series (see links above). Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

  8. 23 Mar

    The Medieval Capital

    When the Angles, Saxons and Jutes began settling across England in the wake of the Roman retreat in the early fifth century, the city they found on the north bank of the Thames was hardly a city at all. Within its walls were the great abandoned ruins of antiquity, ‘the works of giants’ as one Anglo-Saxon poet put it, and little else. For hundreds of years the site was patchily inhabited, but two features indicated its future importance. In 604, the first Bishop of London was appointed, leading to the continuous presence of Christianity and the founding of St Paul’s Cathedral; and down the river, the emergence of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Lundenwic near where Covent Garden is today confirmed the area’s prime position as a trading centre. By the time Alfred repelled the Danes in the ninth century, London’s value had been realised, and the symbolic movement of the royal court from Winchester to Westminster under Edward the Confessor set London’s trajectory. In this episode, Rosemary is joined by Matthew Davies, professor of urban history at Birkbeck, to trace this story of London through the multiple invasions, grand projects and power struggles that took it from a field of ruins to a flourishing medieval capital. Reading by Duncan Wilkins Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr Further reading in the LRB: Eamon Duffy on Westminster: https://lrb.me/lrep301 Ferdinand Mount on Henry III: https://lrb.me/lrep304 Tom Shippey on Alfred: https://lrb.me/lrep302 Ysenda Maxtone Graham on the Strand: https://lrb.me/lrep303 What is Close Readings? Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books that covers different periods and themes of literature, history and philosophy. Each year there are several series running simultaneously, with a new episode appearing every week. Subscribe to Close Readings for access to all past and current series (see links above). Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

  9. 23 Feb

    Mosaics, Archers and a Walled Garden

    After Roman London was hit by a catastrophic fire in about 125 AD, perhaps the result of another local revolt, it entered a new period of sophistication which saw the emergence of elaborate townhouses for its mercantile and administrative elite, richly embellished with mosaics and wall paintings. But the city had stopped growing, and when a devastating plague arrived in about 165 AD, which may well have been Europe’s first encounter with smallpox, it was probably already on a long slow decline caused by its diminishing importance as a trading hub. To continue Roman London’s story to its eventual fate as an abandoned walled garden, Rosemary Hill is joined again by Dominic Perring, author of London in the Roman World, to consider what objects such as a Greek spell found on the Thames foreshore, and a small bronze archer found in Cheapside, can tell us about the fortunes of the city, and why the construction of the London Wall in the early 3rd century marked a terminal transformation of its role in the Roman Empire. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr

  10. 26 Jan

    Roman Beginnings

    The year London was founded will always be disputed, but the most recent archaeological evidence suggests the Romans had created the first settlement on the north bank of the Thames by 48 AD, five years after their invasion. That early military encampment expanded to become a busy, cosmopolitan supply base until it was burnt down in the Boudican revolt of 60 AD. In the first episode of her series tracing the history of London, Rosemary Hill is joined by Dominic Perring, archaeologist and author of London in the Roman World, to examine the development of Londinium over its tumultuous first century, during which it grew to a population of 30,000 and it acquired all the recognisable Roman landmarks – forum, basilica, baths, amphitheatre – before facing its second great destructive event around 125 AD. In their next episode, Rosemary and Dominic consider Roman London’s second revival and the emergence of new belief systems and monuments before its eventual abandonment by Rome at the start of the fifth century. Reading by Duncan Wilkins Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr Read more in the LRB: Christopher Kelly on Roman London: https://lrb.me/londonep1roman2 Tom Shippey on Roman Britain: https://lrb.me/londonep1roman1 What is Close Readings? Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books that covers different periods and themes of literature, history and philosophy. Each year there are several series running simultaneously, with a new episode appearing every week. Subscribe to Close Readings for access to all past and current series (see links above). Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

  11. 1 Jan

    Introducing ‘London Revisited’

    From its beginnings as a backwater of the Roman Empire to its heyday at the heart of the British Empire and up to the eve of the Great War, Rosemary Hill charts London’s history through waves of expansion and contraction with the help of historians, antiquaries and archaeologists. London's past is everywhere beneath its streets, in the geology and archeology of its deep and ancient history, and in its mythic lives, in William Blake's Albion and Cobbett's 'Great Wen', the home of Dick Whittington and King Lud. This will be the London described by Tacitus, Shakespeare and Viginia Woolf, a city shaped by Boudicca, Christopher Wren and Joseph Bazalgette, and a story of countless disasters, recoveries and triumphs unfolding over more than 2,000 years. Rosemary Hill is a writer, historian and contributor to the London Review of Books. Her books include ‘God's Architect', 'Stonehenge' and ‘Time’s Witness: History in the Age of Romanticism’.  To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr What is Close Readings? Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books that covers different periods and themes of literature, history and philosophy. Each year there are several series running simultaneously, with a new episode appearing every week. Subscribe to Close Readings for access to all past and current series (see links above).

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About

From its beginnings as a backwater of the Roman Empire to its heyday at the heart of the British Empire and up to the eve of the Great War, Rosemary Hill charts London’s history through waves of expansion and contraction with the help of historians, antiquaries and archaeologists. London's past is everywhere beneath its streets, in the geology and archeology of its deep and ancient history, and in its mythic lives, in William Blake's Albion and Cobbett's 'Great Wen', the home of Dick Whittington and King Lud. This will be the London described by Tacitus, Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf, a city shaped by Boudicca, Christopher Wren and Joseph Bazalgette, and a story of countless disasters, recoveries and triumphs unfolding over more than 2,000 years. Rosemary Hill is a writer, historian and contributor to the London Review of Books. Her books include ‘God's Architect', 'Stonehenge' and ‘Time’s Witness: History in the Age of Romanticism’.  To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk What is Close Readings? Close Readings is a multi-series podcast from the London Review of Books that covers different periods and themes of literature, history and philosophy. Each year there are several series running simultaneously, with a new episode appearing every week. Subscribe to Close Readings for access to all past and current series (see links above).

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