The Book of London

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0297796240
• ISBN13: 9780297796244
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 2.73 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The best travel guide you could buy

When my wife and I take a trip to Europe, we always buy more guidebooks than any sensible person would want. The one that always gets used - over and over - is the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide. The one for London is excellent but we have also used the guidebooks for Rome and Paris with equally satisfactory results. What is great about these books is the careful combination of text and pictures. The traveller can get a "feel" for the city in advance, so that once on site there is a comfortable familiarity with the terrain. The maps are excellent and the 3-D breakout views of museums and other sites of interest are quite helpful. And the book doesn't skimp on that information that all traveller's need when visiting a foreign country - practical information about currency, custom, emergency help, precautions, transportation, entertainment options, plus lists of recommended hotels, restaurants and sites of interest. And even after the trip, this book stays on the bookshelf to be taken down whenever we need a reminder of what we saw and did. Printed on high quality stock and beautifully illustrated, these guidebooks are a pleasure to browse at any time. If you plan to visit London, and don't know the town well, get this book. You'll be glad to have it before, during and after the trip.

Dorling Kindersley - Hats off!!

If you are planning to tour central London, this is THE guide you should buy. There is nothing better. DK is amazing. I have used it to visit each and every attraction listed, and it works really well. Each attraction is explained in detail with colour photographs for most. You can actually read the book and plan your trip to the hour!The added bonus are the maps. Wow! Forget A-Z. Forget Collins. The maps are SO EASILY READABLE!Finally, a few shortcomings are: (1) the pictorial sketch-maps are not very accurate, but that is not so bad. (2) the outside boundaries of the pictorial maps do not mention the street names, so you have to look up the map pages and plan (3) web site addresses should have been listed with each attraction (4) the approximate cost of admission per adult is not listed where applicable. But, in most cases, I could find these on the web (5) the opening timings for attractions are not correct in a few cases (eg Royal Naval College, Greenwich) (6) the book weighs quite a lot! But the guide has good glossy paper and is bound very well.Besides these not very significant shortcomings, this is the greatest guide I have used. It made my touring really enjoyable.Finally, if you look through the pages, you will realize what kind of effort and research must have gone into preparing this guide. No wonder it is so good! Hats off to editors/researchers/artists at DK. (DK's other books are really great, too)

Don't leave home without this book!

I purchased this guide well before my trip to London and read it cover to cover. I was able to plan many of my activities and budget the trip without ever leaving my livingroom.Even though this was my first trip abroad, the information contained in the guide made me feel as if I was a seasoned travel veteran..from how to use The Tube for transportation (get a London Visitor's Pass) to opearting hours and admission prices for all of the places I wanted to see to a translation of the "English" language (a "subway" is not a train that runs underground). If you are in need of a very useful travel companion for your trip to London, this guide is well worth the price.

A guide that gives you pictures rather than just words!

My family and I recently vacationed in London this past summer, and found this guide to be a wonderful resource. It is clear, easy to understand, and covers every aspect of your visit to this lovely city on the Thames. Many travel guides have wordy narratives and microscopic maps, but not this one. Once you open it's cover you will be treated to wonderful full color photos, detailed color drawings, maps, and illustrations. You will be inspired by this book because it literally shows you what you'll see in London, even before you leave home. You will be able to identify sites like St.Paul's, Westminister Abby, Trafalgar Sq, and will actually recognize them when you arrive in London (this is no small feat)! In addition to a liberal amount of practical travel information, many historical facts are provided to whet your interest, and prepare you to absorb more from guided tours or plaques you may read. Finally, even after you return home, you will find yourself looking at this guide to refresh your memory, and to explain some of the finer points when telling friends "what you did on your summer vacation". It is a beautiful book, a great travel guide, and a wonderful keepsake.

The most comprehensively helpul London travel book ever!

This book and the others in the series (e.g. for Paris and Rome) provide photos, drawings and diagrams of what other books only tell about in print. Beautifully designed and easy to use, this is the one superb resource to read before your trip; you'll know London before you arrive. And during your visit you'll refer to it continually. You'll get a satisfying balance of information about the city's history, culture, arts, neighborhoods, customs, traditions, shopping, events, transporation and more...plus an excellent "survival guide" section...and detailed street and subway maps and recommendations about carefully screened lodging, restaurants and shopping. We don't travel without the Eyewitness Travel Guide. While this book is similar in style and layout to the equally excellent Knopf guides, I find a better balance of information in the Eyewitness Guides.