Book description
Ever wondered if Cheapside really is cheap, what you do in
Threadneedle Street, or who the knights of Knightsbridge were?
Did you know that Piccadilly is actually an insult? And that Euston
Road was built because there were too many cows on Oxford Street? Or
that the River Fleet was covered over partly because of a drunken
butcher?
Take a trip down narrow lanes, through cobbled streets and crowded
markets to discover the meanings behind the city's place names. Meet
forgotten residents whose names survive in the places where they lived
and uncover tales from London's murky past that have shaped the modern city.
From famous landmarks to forgotten rivers, grand thoroughfares to
lost palaces, and ancient villages swallowed up as the city grew,
Caroline Taggart explains the hidden meanings behind familiar places.
If you have ever wanted to learn more about the history of London and
discover the people, events and stories that shaped our capital city,
then come on a journey that will show you London in a new light...
Caroline Taggart worked in publishing as an editor of popular
non-fiction for 30 years before being asked to write
I Used to Know That
, which became a
Sunday Times
bestseller. Her later books include
My Grammar and I (or should that
be 'Me'?)
and
Her Ladyship's Guide to the Queen's English
. As a result, she has appeared frequently on
BBC Breakfast
and on national and regional radio, talking about language, grammar and
Pythagoras' theorem. With her editorial hat on, she also visits writers'
conferences around the country, advising would-be authors on how to get
published and learning what their place names mean.
