London Rising: The Men Who Made Modern London - Hardcover

Hollis, Leo

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802716326 ISBN 13: 9780802716323

Publisher: Walker Books, 2008

Synopsis

Like a phoenix from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1666, London was reborn to become the greatest metropolis of the age. London Rising tells the story of five extraordinary men and the city they transformed.

By the middle of the seventeenth century, London was on the verge of collapse. Its ancient infrastructure could no longer support its explosive growth; the English Civil War had torn society apart; and in 1665 the capital was struck by a plague that claimed 100,000 lives. And then, the following year, the Great Fire destroyed huge swaths of the city. As Leo Hollis recounts in his stirring history of the period, modern London was born out of this crucible.

Among the catalysts for this rebirth were five extraordinary men, each deeply influenced by the Civil War, whose intersecting lives form the heart of London Rising: famed philosopher John Locke, whose ideas about the individual would outline a new theory of civil society based on natural rights; diarist John Evelyn, who insightfully chronicled the tumult and transformation before him; the polymathic scientist and architect Robert Hooke; developer Nicholas Barbon, who rebuilt much of the city after the fire; and Christoper Wren, astronomer, geometer, and the greatest English architect of his time, whose reconstruction of St. Paul's Cathedral was the essential symbol of London's rebirth. The city today is in great part the result of the myriad advances in literature, planning, science, and social issues forged by these five.

Hollis paints a vibrant portrait of one of the world's greatest cities, and of a generation of men whose impact on London is unmatched.

About this title

About the Author

Leo Hollis is a writer and editor. This is his first book. He was born in London and continues to make it his home.

Reviews

*Starred Review* By 1670, London had endured several decades of hell. The ravages of the English Civil War had depressed English commerce and led to massive growth of the poor, urban population. The infrastructure, even by seventeenth-century standards, was rotting, and the streets, usually unpaved, became swamps when heavy rains struck. In 1665, a recurrence of the plague killed as many as 100,000 people. The next year, the Great Fire destroyed much of the central city. Yet, a century later, London could justifiably be considered a great metropolis at the center of a thriving commercial empire. According to Hollis, a London native, this renaissance can be credited substantially to the vision and talents of five men. The political philosopher John Locke proposed theories that unleashed the powers of individual liberty and creativity. Robert Hooke used mathematics and the “new science” to design a new concept of urban development. Nicholas Barbon, a developer on the make, used his entrepreneurial skills to rebuild and expand the city. John Evelyn was a prolific writer whose prose brought attention to such contemporary topics as urban pollution. Finally, Christopher Wren, the great architect, designed the buildings that came to symbolize the rebirth of a great city. This is an engrossing account of the rise of a great city and of some of the men who made it happen. --Jay Freeman

Edition details

• Publisher: Walker Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802716326
• ISBN 13: 9780802716323
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400