LONDON : A Comprehensive Survey of the History, Tradition and
Historical Associations of Buildings and Monu- ments. By George H. Cunningham. (Dent. 21s.)—It is recorded that Dr. Johnson said on occasion that whoever wishes to attain a good English style must give" his days and nights " to Addison, and it might, in the same way, be said that anyone who wishes to acquaint himself with the historical and personal associations of London's multitudinous streets must be prepared to make the same sacrifice to Cunningham. Mr. George Cunningham follows partly in the famous footsteps of his namesake Peter, whose Handbook W London (1849) is still a standard and an invaluable authority, but the modern has the advantage over the earlier writer, in that he has infinitely larger stores of London literature on which to draw. " A comprehensive survey " Mr. Cunningham calls his book It is indeed, so far as individual associations are concerned, Test it where you will (and the alphabetical order in which the streets are arranged makes the search easy), and you will find Mr. Cunningham's exhaustive and painstaking annotations answering the test, while the interest of the book is increased by a short, though well set out, introductory sketch of the growth and development of the City and Town, which illustrates the continuity of London's life throughout the ages.
Previous page
