Great Pubs of London

For centuries the pub has been an essential part of London’s cultural and social fabric. This beautifully illustrated book takes readers through the doors of 22 historically and architecturally significant London pubs.

Through photographs specially commissioned for this project, readers can explore these institutions—from smugglers to poets, from 400-hundred-year-old flagstone floors to etched glass and polished brass. Engaging texts highlight what makes each pub so special; their place in London’s history, the personalities who have frequented them, the events that occurred inside, and the ways pubs have contributed phrases such as “on the wagon” and “one for the road” to the modern lexicon. This book reveals why The Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden earned the nickname the “Bucket of Blood”, and features a pub that Charles Dickens described as a “great rambling queer old place”. Furthermore, the book muses over the chances that Casanova paid a visit to The Dog and Duck in Soho, and uncovers the location of Charles De Gaulle’s favorite wartime watering hole.

These and other amusing anecdotal histories make this fascinating and luxuriously illustrated book a must-have for anyone with a love for the good old London pub.

"Tales from the bar" - Review and images on BBC BBC News