Johnson's Life of London: The People Who Made the City that Made the World

A Pudding Lane baker forgot his tray of buns, starting a fire which destroyed most of mediaeval London back in 1666. According to records, the `official' death toll was, unbelievably, only eight souls, but in todays currency, the monetary losses surpassed billions of pounds.Boris Johnson, who happens to be the Mayor of London these days, provides a fascinating insight into the history of London, including the destructive Great Fire of London.He writes about many former Londoners whom most of us never heard of, like Boudica, a fiery redhead woman, the Queen of the Iceni tribe, who with her rebels, burned London to the ground in 60 AD to avenge the rape of her two daughters and was determined to rid Britain of the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.Fast-forward closer to modern times, John Wilkes was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1757. Described as the 'Father of Liberty', he supported the rebels in the American War of Independence, and forced the government to concede to verbatim publications of parliamentary debates by the press.Mr Johnson also writes about folks that are more well-known to us, like William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, even the Rolling Stones rocker, Keith Richards, or 'Keef.'We learn about the terrible toll the water borne disease, cholera, took on the London populace. This was long before anyone realized someone better design a sewage system in 1858 to stop effluent from flowing into the River Thames. So intelligently designed and built by Londoner Joseph Bazalgette, the city still relies on the system today.With some wit, sprinkled with intelligent analysis and colorful English words, the book, 'Johnson's Life of London' could well become a history buffs classic and a London visitors guidebook.Although it's a fast-paced read, I had to put on the brakes occasionally to visit Wikipedia and find out more about the events, paintings and people Mr Johnson covers.Overall, the book describes what a significant role London and it's citizens have played in the world of geopolitics, language and culture, and who better to write it than the cities colorful champion, Boris Johnson.

** IT ACTUALLY WAS AN UN-FAIR FIGHT or "BATTLE OF WITS" == Letterman had come to the arena "UN- ARMED"! LETTERMAN was then professionally and accurately "sliced and diced" - rather skillfully by BORIS JOHNSON, all before 'live' television cameras & a 'live' studio audience in JOHNSON's own New York City of birth -- Leaving it at age five. ** After calming down the hyper-active and effervescent BORIS -- a favorite among writers & fellow columnists at "The Daily Telegraph" [London] = this much can be stated authoritatively:LETTERMAN ACTUALLY LIKED THE GUY, who had to follow actress JANE FONDA among that evening's guests!Next to close the show: A RAEGAE BAND! ;-) WHAT A NIGHT! -30- Johnson's Life of London: The People Who Made the City that Made the World [ADDED on SUNDAY MORNING - July 1st, 2012] = Now sorting through "The FINANCIAL TIMES" [of London] piece by writer JAMES PICKFORD [in its APRIL 27th EDITION - on top of PAGE 3, with photo] - JOHNSON once more checking his wrist watch - BEFORE Mister Johnson'S RE-ELECTION on MAY 3rd, THIS NEW BOOK HAS NEW MEANING and EVEN MORE DELIGHTS!** YES, it was purchased from Amazon.com and quickly delivered! SO = All the more delightfully enjoyed! ** -30-

I saw Boris Johnson, mayor of London, on national tv, enjoyed his light, intelligent banter and bought his book. I was very anxious to read it, as London is one of my most favorite cities in the world. I began and underlined and couldn't put the book down. Although I was expecting it to be about modern London, I enjoyed the early beginnings of the city and it's roots to Rome. Some of this information was almost unbelieveable and I enjoyed it. However, other than Winston Churchill, most of the other "famous" Londoners were rather boring -- and I like history! I kept wondering why he chose this people to write about and I must confess I turned the pages rapidly, moving on to find something more interesting. All in all, knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn't have read this book. However, I finish most books I begin, so I am glad I completed this read. At some points I felt Johnson was just writing little in-depth essays on some of these people. Very well-written book and I liked his sense of humor.J.A. Norman

Boris Johnson's writing style is certainly unusual to someone who have never read any of his writing. It is both chatty and skilled and his wit and humour echo some of the characters he has chosen to include. It is essentially a mini biography of some notable and rather surprising characters all connected with London, all contributing to London's greatness. Johnson's enthusiasm for London is evident throughout. Most certainly it is a book that will deepen anyone's appreciation for London and its history. It was a page turner!

This book is one of those you can instantly get into.However, this copy had an approximately 2/8” diameter red dot on the bottom edge that looked like blood. I wanted to exchange the book but it’s out of stock. I had to cut out the bottom edge of the 15-20 affected pages.

BoJo is entertaining, if a bit of a blowhard. The book was very readable. Wouldn’t pay for a new one though. Used, it was worthwhile.

I bought this book because I am an English ex-pat yearning for anything from the motherland. Boris Johnson is a character and is passionate about London, so I thought this was going to be a good maybe quirky read. It is a good read but not quirky. it is a serious complete detailed history & geography of London. If you are an Anglophile you will enjoy this book. I have lived there for 40 years and I learned new things in reading this.

I am only part way through the book so far but it was an excellent choice. I chose it after reading the first few pages on line and it keeps up that style and interest as the history progresses. Boris has a great ability to write fluently and convey the interest in his topic, yet still move it along at a cracking pace like the good journalist that I imagine he was. He covers a lot of detail, here and there, by dipping in and out of what he found interesting as the story rushes past. This is not an academic history, but deals with far more details than would normally appear in a gloss covering 2000 years. And whenever he can, Boris draws out conclusions, comparisons, things about the period he is describing that he thinks are relevant to our understanding of the broad sweep of history, or to our situation today. This is history written for the interested general reader, not the professional historian, and I heartily recommend it on that basis. Bye the bye, it also shows Boris as a much greater personality and brain than he is sometimes given credit for.

I love Boris' way of writing, his humour and his knowledge. However, this one let me down a little. Two or three of the characters he writes about I didn't know, and he didn't make them interesting enough to make me want to know. Also it got a bit boring towards the end. But overall, being Boris, I enjoyed it.

Not being a particular fan of Boris Johnson, I had originally bought this book for my father who then said he had already bought it. A friend had recommended it also so I thought may as well read it myself as enjoy history. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease to read about each person. It's a book you can pick and just read individual chapters and found it an immensely readable book.

I've got the paper book and I like the paper book (5 stars to the paper book); I bought the audio book as well to entertain me on long car journeys. I am disappointed because I expected it to be read mostly by the author and it mostly seems not to be.I disagree with one earlier reviewer insofar as I think the actor doing the reading is a better reader, AS a reader, than Boris himself. But, not being the author, he's probably putting the emphasis in different places from those in which Boris would have put it, which subtly changes the meaning.Note to self: I must read the product description AND the customer reviews with more attention in future.

This interesting and informative book is written in a lively style which makes it a deliciously easy read. It is a book to dip into, or read from cover to cover as the mood dictates. A book which every family should have. "He who is tired of London is tired of life..." I recommend it particularly to anyone who lives in London, or frequents the city.