Product Description

Like its popular and acclaimed predecessor RESTORATION LONDON, this book is the result of the author's passionate interest in the practical details of the everyday life of our ancestors, so often ignored in more conventional history books. Based on every possible contemporary source - diaries, almanacs, newspapers, advice books, memoirs, government papers and reports - Liza Picard examines every aspect of life in London: the streets, houses and gardens; cooking, housework, laundry and shopping; clothes and jewellery, cosmetics and hairdressing; medicine, sex, hobbies, education and etiquette; religion and popular beliefs; law and crime. This book spans the years 1740 to 1770, starting when the gin craze was gaining ground and ending when the east coast of America was still British. Accessible and vivid. Picard's curiosity and enthusiasm are infectious, and she has an instinct for what will interest the lay reader' Daily Telegraph

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29824 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Liza Picard certainly isn't tired of London. The lives that once thronged its streets are the stuff of her books, and Dr Johnson's London updates her 1997 volume, Restoration London, by one hundred years or so. Samuel Pepys gives way to Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, though, entertainingly, she shows no affection for the pair. She pursues them solely for their era, stretching 30 years from 1740 to 1770, pivoted on the publication of Johnson's Dictionary in 1755. Starting with a "virtual" sedan-chair tour of the city, she proceeds to elucidate every aspect of urban life, with particular attention paid to the poor, and the "middling sort", a fledgling middle class. This goes some way to redressing a balance which historically has tended to favour the rich and famous, who left behind the majority of buildings and ephemera.

Picard's conversational style, as bursting with rhetorical questions as a primary teacher, belies the breadth of her reading and research. Her informality breathes life into dry descriptions, and her sharp eye lends itself to shrewd selection from source passages. The familiarity of this Blackadder-esque London is borne out by its physical dimensions, with parks, hospitals and even bridges already starting to become recognisable to a contemporary eye, as well as its phenomena, such as lottery tickets and road rage. Although Picard sways between tenses with a giddy ease, adding a sprinkling of her own curious observations, her assimilation of information renders her prose sprightly, whether she be observing a meal in "real time", or delighting in the medical remedies, often involving quite the worst ingredients (though it's useful to know that powdered roast mouse is a reliable cure for incontinence). Saving the best to last, the concluding pages offer a cost of living index, which, as Picard admits, almost renders the book redundant. From a 1/2d half-loaf of bread to a £64,000 reward, it evocatively summarises the victuals and commodities of the time, and closes a bustling, collective portrait of the city not just of Johnson, but also of Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollett and William Hogarth.--David Vincent

THE TIMES
'Picard's writing is engaging and lucid, Fiona Shaw narrates with enthusiasm and the book has been thoughtfully abridged'

Review
'Picard's writing is engaging and lucid, Fiona Shaw narrates with enthusiasm and the book has been thoughtfully abridged' (THE TIMES )

'It is packed with the sort of period detail I relish, the sections are linked with Handel, 18th century London's most celebrated composer' (THE GUARDIAN )

Customer Reviews

Worthy Winner
Author Liza Picard tells us right off that she is a lawyer by profession, not an historian. This opens her up to sniffy comments by academics who think no history can be written unless it done in the dullest way possible. In spite of the fact Ms. Picard did voluminous research and adequately footnoted and indexed her book, she still came in for some sniping. In my mind, it is most unfair for she has produced an entertaining, interesting, breezy account of times during the reign of George III. (1740-1770)

Though Ms. Picard is clearly no fan of the revered Dr. Johnson and has a very poor opinion of biographer James Boswell, they do weave in and out of the text. She divides the book into three sections, The Poor, The Middling Sort, and The Rich. She gives us what they wore, ate, with what they entertained themselves, and how they lived with great immediacy. You will wonder how anyone survived to grow up in filthy, smelly, incurious London. Most surprising to me was the Gin Wars and how pervasive this cheap form of alcohol was among the poor. It had a huge effect on a great portion of the populace for an extended period of time. The ladies' three-foot high hairdos forced them to sit on the floor of coaches when traveling to balls. I couldn't help but wonder if they just slid out the door when they reached their destinations.

"Dr. Johnson's London" is a lively read with interesting details. Ms. Picard does a good job of getting us into the sensibilities of 18th century London. Recommended.

Vivid evocation of London life 250 years ago.
A vivid, disgusting, harrowing, charming evocation of London life just 250 years and a lightyear away.

If the press gangs and smallpox did't get you, then the medicine would. Find out how many Londoners died of "lethargy" or "grief". Smell the sewers, taste the powdered chalk in the milk. It makes todays health scares seem utterly banal.

Fascination stuff. A history book that you don't tire of after five chapters. Buy it and curl up in front of the fire this Christmas.

Engaging, but ultimately lightweight
I was looking forward to this book and, to some extent, enjoyed reading it. However, I've a few criticisms. Firstly, it seemed to be drawn from a relatively limited number of souces. Whilst books like this all tend to lack true scholarly rigour, this one was really quite thinly researched. Secondly, and as a result no doubt, there was plenty of repetition in it. The same stories appeared several times to illustrate similar points. Finally, the writing style was a little stilted at times.

Althogether a bit disappointing, although a tolerable read.