Book Launch - London: The Great Transformation 1860 - 1920

The book launch of London: The Great Transformation 1860-1920, where best-selling author Philip Davies will be joined on stage for an introduction and conversation with author, architectural historian and broadcaster Dan Cruickshank.

In Philip Davies’s first bestselling book Lost London: 1870–1945, readers were mesmerised by the wealth of information early photographs of London conveyed, yet these images were taken from just a single source and concentrated on a relatively small area of the city.
Cover of the London: The Great Transformation 1860 - 1920 book, featuring a black and white archive image of a street with horse-drawn carriages leading to Big Ben

Aware that there was a much greater story to tell, London: The Great Transformation 1860-1920 has drawn together London’s architectural and social history into a seamless whole. Over 10 years of research in more than 25 archives at home and abroad has produced a unique visual record of the capital as it expanded into the world’s greatest city.

The book contains over 800 carefully restored historic photographs, the core of which is drawn from the rich collections of full-plate images preserved at Bishopsgate Institute. These have been painstakingly cleaned and restored to reveal staggering levels of detail of long-forgotten people and places.

Signed copies of the book will be available on the night for a discounted price of £40 (normal price £50).