Delightful book, filled with fascinating trivia about writers and their haunts in London. The book can be used as a guide for figuring out your own walking tours of parts of London, or you could read it like I did, just for its great descriptions, and literary connections of places! The factoids she provides aren't the usual tired anecdotes you've already heard, and the writers included are delightfully diverse, much like the city itself. She spans centuries, but I like the mix of writers and books, beyond the usual literary suspects of Dickens and Shakespeare when it comes to London ( though of course, you get plenty of them, how could you not!). I've got some excellent book recommendations from this. Highly recommended, it's a great , fun read that transports you to London!

Thank you to Pen & Sword, White Owl, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review The Book Lover's Guide to London. Firstly I hope that the Protected PDF I received was prior to the book's final copy-edit. Among the dozens of typos, page 10 has an incomplete date. Russell is spelt with different spellings, along with a curious version of how to spell Camden. Sometime spaces are missing (page 15 and many others), elsewhere two word spaces are to be found. Marx Memorial Library is at 37A Clerkenwell Green (page 43), not Clerkenwell Gardens, and a space and comma shouldn't appear together, as in page 46.
As for the review:
For anyone with an interest in London this book is an essential addition to their bookshelf. The research Sarah Milne has undertaken to produce this work is quite considerable.
Literary facts include P. G. Woodhouse (spelt incorrectly twice on page 54) getting sacked from his bank for stealing paper to write a short story; that Lady in the Van was filmed outside Alan Bennett's house, which he subsequently sold for £3 million; Admiral Boon's house with a roof resembling a ship's quarterdeck in Mary Poppins actually exists; and H. G. Wells's childhood home is now a Primark store. My favourite literary trivia is that the only manuscript for Orwells' Animal Farm was retrieved from bomb damage rubble.
These and hundreds of facts are to be found in this brilliantly researched and illustrated book. There is also a useful index and comprehensive bibliography. As a London cabbie who's spent decades studying the capital, this book has been a huge resource of new knowledge.
Note: I'll exclude the typos criticisms when I review this book on online book retailers' websites at a later date.

Great resource for the book lover planning at trip to London. This is organized by area of the city, so would make a great tour book to help you plan your days. I liked that there were references to both newer and older authors and novels.

A lovely collection of information and pictures of London dustricts with their literary connections. A good choice for book lovers.
Can be read as a guide book, dipping in and out discovering authors and their haunts.
Only four stars though as there appears to be problem with the positioning of the images in reference to the text. No doubt a download problem.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Because of stupid Covid I wasn't able to take my trip to London this year but thankfully I found this book. I was able to navigate the streets using my minds eye. This book is so wonderful with incredible facts about the city I love so much

This book does not purport to include all London authors, nor does it find every relevant location in London, but what it does do wonderfully is to find, and bring current, places referred to or frequented by London's great authors. Milne does this by selecting particular neighborhoods in London and then identifying authors associated with those locations. She throws in little tidbits about the authors, but the book expects you to know or be interested in the authors already. The strength of the book is in the details about the historical and current locations. If you are a reader who wants to see what "they" saw; stand where "they" stood, or feel what "they" felt, then the book is valuable. It would take a lot of independent research (and time) to replicate this guide for someone interested in seeing these particular sites. I need to go back to London, with this book particularly and spend a couple of weeks with it exploring. It is a perfect guide for a certain type of traveler.

Sarah Milne’s The Book Lover's Guide to London is a wonderful, must-have resource if you are planning a trip to London. Full of stories, locations, and pictures, this guidebook can serve as your own personal tour guide in London. This well-written, beautiful book would also be the perfect gift for anyone who loves reading about authors and the literature they created. The next time I go to London, I plan on taking this book with me!

As Covid 19 and Covid related travel bans drag on, books like this have become a life line, a way to travel vicariously through the pages of a book. This book has something for Anglophiles and bibliophiles alike, as readers can explore the stomping grounds, birthplaces, significant landscapes and final resting places of some of history’s best known authors

I love all this British, so I was excited to see this book. And, with all that's going on in the world, this is a lovely way to travel across London without leaving the comfort of your couch. It was fun to read about the "story behind the story" from some famous authors and their most loved scenes. The books includes authors such as Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, and George Orwell. The reader is made to feel a part of some of the top Classics. If I ever get to London one day, it'd be fun to take this along as a guidebook.

An absolutely gorgeous book full of historical facts, author biographies and titillating tidbits of facts that are unique to London. I loved learning g what has changed to the buildings from the author life to today. Hairdresser shops and restaurants being curious changes. Gorgeous photography. I hope travel opens up again. This would be a divine guidebook to London!

The incomparable literary capital of London has inspired so many authors and poets. As P. G. Wodehouse may say, one cannot throw a brick without hitting one! From Chaucer to present day, by neighbourhood area, the author describes in wondrous detail where they stayed and researched, lived, hung out and were tried for crimes. Along with juicy tidbits and descriptions, photographs and illustrations cause this book to shine. Plaques, statues, busts, signs and graveyards honour these writers. The vast majority of my favourite authors are mentioned in this book and I greedily read and savoured each word.

I had not know that the Senate House inspired Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four's Ministry of Truth, though it does look like the building I envision when reading it. Many literary greats hung out in the British Museum Reading Room, including Charles Dickens, James Joyce, Arthur Conan Doyle and Bran Stoker. The illustrious Bloomsbury group also met to debate, discuss and dissect literature...how awesome to be privy to such discussions! Several fabulous publishers are scattered about in these areas, too. Some writers chose to research in Soho for the seedier parts of novels. Oscar Wilde stayed on Regent Street but unfortunately later was tried and sentenced at Old Bailey. Discover who had a falling out near Covent Garden and who loved Shakespeare theatre. Elizabeth Gaskell and Wilkie Collins had associations with The Strand.

We read about 221B Baker Street, where Thomas Hardy wrote and where Agatha Christie lived in several locations. Some homes were blitzed during the war so moves were necessary. The Olde Cheshire Cheese Club was mentioned in books by P. G. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie and Anthony Trollope. Discover which author was surveilled by British Intelligence. Learn more about Daphne du Maurier's home. One of my favourite stories in this book (too many to count!) concerns Orwell and H. G. Wells.

British author lovers, pick up this wonderful, wonderful book! Such fun to learn about timeless influential writers, writers who left behind marvelous works and personal stories. What a great idea for a book. I will take it on the next trip to London.

My sincere thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this truly astounding book.

A 5-star read! The author’s meticulous research has delivered an illuminating and hugely enjoyable book. <i>The Book Lover’s Guide to London</i> begs multiple readings as well as a bucket-list tour of literary London.
<i>The Book Lover’s Guide to London</i> is an indispensable guide to the London literary scene – both classic and contemporary. Highly visual, it is a veritable mine of information of the capital’s literary history and a cornucopia of cherished authors, famous persons and fictional characters.
It presents a fascinating historical background of persons, places and events, as well as anecdotes and curious facts that are often revelatory. It offers a celebration of what remains as well as providing a wistful look at some long-lost landmarks.
This book is an essential travel companion and has enough information for the keen literati and the casual reader/tourist.
Having read it in one sitting, I was immediately inspired to not only tour London but also revisit many of the dozens of quoted novels on my bookshelves. I’ll be sure to buy a hard copy edition, which I can already envisage being crammed full of Post-It notes and highlighted sections.
Accompanying pupils on school trips to London will in future incorporate dozens more notable literary sites than had hitherto been the case!
Thanks to Netgalley and Pen and Sword for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you know anything about London, you would know what a fabulously old city it is - chock full of old and historical buildings. In fact every corner seems to hold some significance! This is where this book comes in for literary fans. Amazingly, you can still find the buildings that housed writers like Yeats, Agatha Christie and many many more. This then is a great guide to bring along with you on your next trip to this great city. It's conveniently arranged by area. To be honest, I wouldn't go out of the way to see some of these places, but if I passed any of them, they would have been worth a glance or a photograph at least.

I liked that there are lots of colour photographs of the venues and also intriguing snippets about the writers associated with the place.

Definitely a must-have for the London visitor who is also a die-hard fan of classic literature.

The Book Lover's Guide to London is a wonderful guide for fans of British literature. The book goes neighborhood by neighborhood featuring the various authors who lived there or notable books and stories that took place there.
The descriptions are detailed enough to not feel surface level but short enough to be approachable. I appreciated that in addition to the great novelists, the book also featured poets, play writes, and essayists. I will say that there were a lot of names and book mentioned that I've never heard of, but I'm not well versed on my classics so that's a reflection of me and not the book. I've lived in London so I was familiar with the neighborhoods and had visited many of the locations referenced. It did add one location to my list of places to visit on my next trip to London, the Hardy Tree at St. Pancras Church Graveyard.
I do think that this book had way too much Charles Dickens. I get it, the guy lived in London most of his life and set most if not all of his books there, but he was so disproportionately featured compared to everyone else. There are too many authors who have lived in and featured London to have so many sections of the book focused on one author. I also which there had been a better indicator of which locations are still in existence vs. which ones have been lost to time. While featured as a travel guide, it would be very difficult to follow the book with additional help from google maps.

Thank you to Pen & Sword, White Owl, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I love London and am constantly amazed at how many ways there are to visit and look at the city. This guide focuses on book lovers. The book breaks London down into neighborhoods and in each section will tell you about authors who lived in the area or about stories that take place in the vicinity. For example Covnent Garden is where the Artful Dodger was a pick pocket it is also where Oscar Wilde was brought when he was arrested for indecency. I love seeing photos of neighborhoods I have visited and I've added some locations to visit on my next trip to London. Writers like Dickens get several mentions as he set books in London and lived in various locations. Sadly a lot of the buildings where writers lived no longer exist but the book will mention if there is a plaque noting the site. This is not a travel guide book. You would need another guidebook to help find the neighborhoods, subway stops etc. This is for the person who wants to find where their favorite authors lived or are buried. Or know that this location was used in a famous story. Thank you to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance copy of, The Book Lover's Guide to London, by Sarah Milne. This is a great book for people who love books and London. I really enjoyed this book and want to visit all the places of my beloved authors.