London

Wilson talks with passion and authority about architecture's effect on the populace * Independent on Sunday * What shines through is Wilson's love for the city and his anguish at what he sees as the missed opportunity of the post-war period * Mail on Sunday * A. N. Wilson's contribution is genuinely a short history, with the main text falling just shy of 150 pages, showing his customary lucidity and zest * Times Literary Supplement * His short history of the city ... offers a fresh and persuasive perspective ... With the same verve that we have come to expect from his newspaper columns, Wilson shows us how London has entered a phase which is completely new ... Wilson's history ... captures some of the city's energy, which crackles across its pages -- Alastair Sooke * Catholic Herald * Engaging ... As each era superimposes itself on the ones before, he conjures up the vanished human history, hidden like the rivers flowing beneath, that is so much part of London's atmosphere * Irish Times * In his analysis of contemporary London, he elegantly skips from property prices to shopping ... This is a history of London even for people who don't readily venture into history or London * Glasgow Herald * Tantalisingly excellent * Islington Tribune * If you can't face Ackroyd's epic biography of the capital, then this shorter version will be ideal. It's manageable, fascinating and impressively wide-ranging for its size, and doesn't skimp on anecdote * LIVING HISTORY *