Can you recommend any books set in london in the past???

Question

They don't have to be written in the past but just set in the past in London England. Anyone know of any books they can suggest?? Thanks x

Answer 1

"London" by Edward Rutherford.  It's a novel which starts in pre-Roman times and comes up to the present.  Descendants of various characters reappear in different places throughout.  It's over 1000 pages and gives a fairly accurate description of life at various social levels. It's not a great book, but it isn't bad either.  An easy read.

Answer 2

Hi there.

My favourites are the Sherlock Holmes stories, most of which are London based. Apart from that you could try Dickens (especially Oliver Twist and Bleak House).

I also like The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, and for humour try Three men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome.

Good luck, Steve.

Answer 3

Many books by Charles Dickens are set in London in the Victorian era.  Bleak House is one of the best.  A large part of Great Expectations also takes place in London and is a little easier read for somebody who doesn't read a lot of classical literature.  Also, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe has a lot of setting in London.

Answer 4

Oliver twist

A tale of two cities

Answer 5

"The Quincunx" is a novel, essentially a pastiche of Victorian Novels. Good fun revolving around the quest for the Codicil to a Will. Enjoy.

Answer 6

Some very good suggestions already. I'll add Mark Twain's the Prince and the Pauper and for something non-traditional, the graphic novel From h**l by Alan Moore.

Answer 7

"Vanity Fair" by Thackaray (at least most of it is.)

Answer 8

Anything by Charles Dickens - try OIiver Twist or Tale of Two Cities.

Also, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, set in 19th Century London. Written by Susanna Clark a few years ago.

There's also the Sherlock Holmes novels, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula (by Bram Stoker), Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf), Evelyn Waugh - Vile Bodies, Graham Greene, The End of the Affair, Muriel Spark's The Girls of Slender Means, and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.

I guess it depends on how far into the 'past' you want!

Happy reading!

Answer 9

Ivy by Julie Hearn

Follow Me down by Julie Hearn

Answer 10

author,harrison ainsworth,two books in paticular,OLD SAINT PAULS,fictional story set in the city of london during the great plague of 1665,and TOWER OF LONDON,again fiction but super story telling.he wrote others but these two have been treasured by me for over 50 years.i was born in the city and spent my entire child and teen years discovering all the magical places mentioned in these stories.i wish you luck in tracking them down.

Answer 11

Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George has parts that are set in London, but not the whole thing is.

There is a book titled London by Edward Rutherford. I haven't read it, but it sounds good! You can look inside the book at amazon.com