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London Lore: The Legends And Traditions Of The World's Most Vibrant City (2008)

by Steve Roud(Favorite Author)

3.46 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1847945112 (ISBN13: 9781847945112)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Random House UK

review 1: London lore explores the legends associated with different neighbourhoods of London and alphabetically by area, so it reads more like an encyclopedia than a book. It took me a long time to read it and it's definitely best read in bits and pieces over an extended period of time, but it is really interesting and well researched, with lots of interesting information. I particularly liked the comments about the development of folklore in the introduction and in some of the entries, and the stories referring to beliefs about witchcraft and those dealing with the origins of place names. It is really a shame that a lot of the book is spent reporting ghost stories, poltergeists etc.
review 2: This book is a good introduction to London folklore. It is divided up into se... morections, where different streets and landmarks are arranged alphabetically, so it’s easy to find a specific area you’re interested in, if you don’t want to read the whole thing. For the most part the book focuses on 19th and 20th century lore. There are only a few instances going back earlier, most of which are drawn from Stow’s Survey of London. The type of folklore includes ghost stories, hauntings, fairs, childhood practices, rumours and stories. It is a good mixture and contains a bibliography and index so it’s easy to track down additional sources for the bits that most interest you. The writer takes on the role of the educator, in addition to the telling of the stories of folklore he also tries to explain how folklorists think and work, and how folklore is studied. This is very interesting, but can come across at times as a little condescending. The only slight criticism of I have of this book is that it centres (with a brief exception of the mention of Chinese New Year festivities) purely on “white” London folklore. Which as London has been home to immigrant families and a multi-cultural city for so long now seems to be a bit of an oversight. It would have been very interesting I think to see the way that imported folklore has become part of the city’s folklore and mixed with native beliefs. Overall this book was highly enjoyable and I’d definitely recommend it to people interested in London and folklore. I found it particularly interesting to read about the areas where I work and live and learned quite a lot. After reading it cover to cover I feel like it will also make a great reference book. less

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