Johnson's Life of London by Boris Johnson, London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd and London Audio Walks from FootnotesJohnson's Life of London written and read by Boris Johnson with Jot Davies (12hrs unabridged, Harper Collins, �19.99)He's a classicist, a showman, a chancer, a buffoon, and wherever you stand on the great Bendy Bus v Routemaster debate, even his fiercest critics would have to concede that Boris and boring are not synonymous. Having cheerfully confessed that most of the information for his latest book was gleaned from Stephen Inwood's 1998 A History of London, it's pretty obvious from the start that this is not going to be an objective overview. It is Boris's personal take on the city he desperately hopes will still be under his thumb after the mayoral elections in May. Uncharitable reviewers have described the book as a blatant political manifesto full of references to, for instance, the fact that "London's buses are carrying more people now than at any time in history".Maybe they are. As a master of self-parody, he's hardly unaware of what he's doing. You can almost hear him waiting for the outraged reactions when he is describing the Romanised toga-wearing natives of Londinium who, when they heard that Emperor Hadrian was on his way, "went into overdrive. It was like being awarded the right to hold the Olympics. The place had to look its best, and that meant infrastructure investment."Hence the splendid new barracks (Hadrian liked dossing down with his legionaries), fort, forum, governor's palace and massive basilica, part shopping mall, part law courts ? they broke their backs and the bank to build for the imperial visit. You can see the remains of the basilica if you go downstairs at the barber's at 90 Gracechurch Street.Once you've accepted that this is, as the title says, strictly Boris's life of London, full of all his favourite people ? Richard Whittington, John Wilkes, Lionel Rothschild, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Keith Richards ? you just shrug off the spin. It's a romp ? racy, bawdy, vivid and often surprisingly informative. Did you know that Rothschild, thanks to his army of spies, was the first person in England to hear of Wellington's victory at Waterloo? He immediately started selling government stocks; everyone followed suit, and when the price reached rock bottom he bought them back and made �160m.London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd, read by Simon Callow (15hrs abridged, Random House, �55)Eleven years after its publication this is still, for me, the definitive book about London. That it's more than a decade out of date doesn't matter a jot if you listened to AN Wilson's London: A Short History (which alas, you can now only get on cassette in libraries), because as far as he's concerned London stopped being interesting around 150 years ago. Surveying his subject from the top of Parliament Hill, Wilson's verdict on what, in Victorian times, was the greatest city in the world, is depressing ? "a great splurge of dreary building, badly executed, badly designed and ugly, ugly, ugly". All the more reason to embrace Ackroyd's exuberant social, political, religious, literary, artistic and architectural history. It's been reissued as a smart boxed set, presumably for the Olympic market. You'll feel exhausted but satisfied by the end. That definite article in the title is fully justified.London Audio Walks (2hrs, Footnotes, CD �5, MP3 download �3)The best way to explore London is unquestionably on foot. Various tour operators offer guided half- and full-day walking tours of different bits of London, but if you dislike big groups and being chivvied to keep up, these Footnotes audios are ideal. Stroll, listen, look. The walks are around 2km long and full of surprises. I've done Old Street and Clerkenwell, both crammed with history, anecdotes and useless but fascinating information. Just up my street.AudiobooksBoris JohnsonLondonPeter AckroydSue Arnoldguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
No comments:
Post a Comment