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Order an essential package, and we'll ship any additional items for free. We offer a mix of guidebooks, maps, field guides, novels and books on art, architecture, history, nature and culture.

Essential Reading

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Eyewitness Guide London

Eyewitness Guide London

by Eyewitness Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • FLEXI-BOUND
  • 448 PAGES

This superb guide to London features color photography, dozens of excellent neighborhood maps and a district-by-district synopsis of the city's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. (GBR34, $25.00)

London Perceived

London Perceived

by Evelyn Hofer | V. S. Pritchett

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 214 PAGES

A classic, lyrical celebration of the palaces, parks, people and everyday experience of London. Pritchett's eloquent riffs on the character of the city are accompanied by evocative black-and-white photographs by the superb Evelyn Hofer. (GBR310, $19.95)

The Story of England

The Story of England

by Christopher Hibbert

  • HISTORY
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

Beautifully illustrated with color pictures, chronological charts, royal genealogies and maps, this popular history of English politics, economics and culture from the Neolithic age to the 1990s is an excellent traveler's companion. (GBR02, $19.95)

London Map

London Map

by Borch Maps

  • 2009
  • MAP

A colorful and detailed laminated city map with a variety of useful inset maps. (GBR114, $8.95)

 
City Secrets London

City Secrets London


by Robert Kahn

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 250 PAGES

A connoisseur's guide to the city and its attractions, with personal recommendations by artists, designers, architects and personalities who have made their home in London. (GBR327, $19.95)

Fodor's London's 25 Best

Fodor's London's 25 Best


by Fodor's

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 128 PAGES

This slim guide to London (with handy full-color maps) has everything you need to know for a short visit to the city, including recommended sightseeing, restaurants, hotels and shops. (GBR08, $11.95)

Food Lovers' London


by Jenny Linford

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 311 PAGES

London's specialty food shops, restaurants and neighborhoods are covered in glorious detail in Jenny Linford's illustrated handbook. (GBR593, $16.95)

Insight Guide London

Insight Guide London


by Insight Guides

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 352 PAGES

A guide to the city with hundreds of color photographs and excellent local maps. (GBR367, $19.99)

Time Out London Walks, 30 Walks by London Writers

Time Out London Walks, 30 Walks by London Writers


by Time Out

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

A personable guide to a wide variety of London excursions.The handy guide is chock full of color photographs, illustrations, practical information and good maps. (GBR595, $19.95)

A Traveller's History of London

A Traveller's History of London


by Richard Tames

  • HISTORY
  • 2007
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

The story of London, from the Romans to Tony Blair, tailored to the traveler. (GBR232, $14.95)

Five Days in London, May 1940

Five Days in London, May 1940


by John Lukacs

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

A fly-on-the-wall account of a long weekend in 1940, capturing all the uncertainty, drama and suspense surrounding Churchill's affirmation that Britain would continue the war with Germany. (WAR47, $11.95)

Letters from London

Letters from London


by Julian Barnes

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 320 PAGES

This sparkling collection of essays by the brilliant novelist Julian Barnes hones in on the social complexity and political reality of modern day England. (GBR14, $14.95)

Little Book of London

Little Book of London


by David Long

  • HISTORY
  • 2008
  • HARD COVER
  • 185 PAGES

The Little Book of London is a funny, fact-packed compendium full of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or just strange-but-true stuff which no-one will want to be without. (GBR751, $21.95)

London, A History

London, A History


by A.N. Wilson

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

A brief, evocative meditation on the rich and varied history of England's capital city by the prolific British writer, critic and historian. Wilson examines London through several lenses, using humor and insight to discuss art, architecture, politics and culture. (GBR480, $14.00)

London, A Social History

London, A Social History


by Roy Porter

  • HISTORY
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

A short, illustrated history of London, chronicling the city from its origins as an outpost of the Roman Empire through medieval hub, Renaissance center and imperial capital. (GBR59, $20.95)

London, The Biography

London, The Biography


by Peter Ackroyd

  • HISTORY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 864 PAGES

A big thematic history of London from Celtic settlement to Roman outpost and world power, much focused on the life of the city. A popular biographer and novelist, Ackroyd leavens the centuries with anecdote, personality and great affection. (GBR248, $21.00)

The Thames


by Jonathan Schneer

  • HISTORY
  • 2005
  • HARD COVER
  • 384 PAGES

Schneer places the Thames at the center of the great events of British history in this engaging, anecdotal and evocative history. (GBR570, $35.00)

Watching the English

Watching the English


by Kate Fox

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 424 PAGES

Fox's clever guide to conversation, behavior, quirks, habits and foibles of the English, wildly popular back home in Britain. (GBR927, $17.95)

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages

Cathedrals and Castles, The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages


by Alain Erlande-Brandenburg

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 175 PAGES

This pocket-size encyclopedia of the art, architecture and culture of the Middle Ages features hundreds of drawings, color illustrations and a brief chronology. (MED07, $15.95)

London Rediscovered

London Rediscovered


by Louise Nicholson | Richard Turpin

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1998
  • HARD COVER
  • 208 PAGES

An informative celebration of the city, its history and architecture, in words and photographs. (GBR513, $45.00)

London, The Thames, North Bank from Richmond Lock to Canary Wharf


by Richard Holt

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2008
  • HARD COVER
  • 44 PAGES

This clever book unfolds accordion-style to reveal a 13-meter panorama of the North Bank of the River Thames. Captions describe the name of the buildings, bridges and other places of interest together with the construction date and the name of the architect. (GBR812, $55.00)

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey


by Richard Jenkyns | Mary Beard

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 224 PAGES

In a highly original pocket book, classicist and cultural historian Richard Jenkyns looks afresh at the celebrated church complex -- national cathedral, coronation church, royal mausoleum, burial place of poets, resting place of the great and of the Unknown Warrior, former home of parliament, place of Princess Diana's funeral. (GBR810, $19.95)

In Search of London


by H.V. Morton

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

An enduring portrait of the city and especially of its history, originally published a half-century ago. As in all of his travel books, Morton charmingly mixes a deep appreciation of the art, culture and, especially, the history of a place with his own keen observations. (GBR269, $18.50)

The Age of Shakespeare

The Age of Shakespeare


by Frank Kermode

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 214 PAGES

A remarkably concise, elegant overview of the world of Shakespeare in the Modern Library Chronicles series by the eminent British critic and scholar. (GBR522, $14.00)

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel


by Jerome Jerome | Jeremy Lewis

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 361 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Written in 1889, "Three Men in a Boat" (to say nothing of the dog!) is a laugh-out-loud account of a man-powered voyage along the River Thames, full of detail on life and lore. A Longitude favorite. (GBR28, $11.95)

84 Charing Cross Road


by Helene Hanff

  • LITERATURE
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 97 PAGES

This charming novel of bibliophilia tells of a love triangle between a New York writer, the owner of a London bookstore and the books he sells. (GBR231, $13.00)

Absolute Beginners

Absolute Beginners


by Colin MacInnes

  • LITERATURE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

Set in the the jazz clubs of Soho and the coffee bars of Notting Hill in the late 1950s, this novel follows a young photographer, whose wit and honest views define London of the period. (GRB34, $16.95)

London, The Novel


by Edward Rutherfurd

  • LITERATURE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 1126 PAGES

This novel marches through 2,000 years of London history. (GBR98, $18.95)

Original Sin


by P.D. James

  • MYSTERY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 512 PAGES

An Adam Dalgeish mystery set in the publishing industry. (GBR409, $15.95)

Small Island, A Novel

Small Island, A Novel


by Andrea Levy

  • LITERATURE
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

A marvelous novel of family, displacement, belonging, race and empire, set in a Jamaican immigrant community in post-WWII London. (GBR560, $15.00)

The Body in the Library

The Body in the Library


by Agatha Christie

  • MYSTERY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 192 PAGES

In this Agatha Christie classic, a stylish blonde is found murdered at Grossington Hall and Miss Marple must put her keen observation skills to work to solve the crime. (GBR186, $12.99)

The Complete Sherlock Holmes, All 4 Novels and 56 Short Stories


by Arthur Conan Doyle

  • LITERATURE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 1122 PAGES

This paperback volume manages to collect every Sherlock Holmes story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote, including "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and his three other short novels concerning the legendary detective. (GBR157, $13.90)

The Heat of the Day


by Elizabeth Bowen

  • LITERATURE
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 368 PAGES

The suspenseful tale of life in London during the bombing raids of World War II. (GBR378, $16.00)

The London Scene, Six Essays

The London Scene, Six Essays


by Virginia Woolf

  • LITERATURE
  • 2006
  • HARD COVER
  • 96 PAGES

The great Virginia Woolf, here writing for the British Good Housekeeping magazine in the 1930s when she was already a leading light, makes a congenial guide to her hometown in these essays, loosely organized as a series of walking tours. Her focus is on London's lterary scene, including Keats, Carlyle and a whole lot of dead poets. (GBR693, $16.95)

The Ministry of Fear

The Ministry of Fear


by Graham Greene

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

A thriller set in London during the Blitz by the master of atmosphere and ambiguity. (GBR571, $15.00)

The Road Home

The Road Home


by Rose Tremain

  • LITERATURE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

Tremain's affecting novel, winner of the 2008 Orange Prize, charts the course of one broken-hearted man from Eastern Europe in London. (GBR790, $14.99)

The Way We Live Now


by Anthony Trollope

  • LITERATURE
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 1024 PAGES

A great masterpiece of storytelling, and a very sharp portrayal of the social, business and political life in London in the late 19th century. (GBR258, $12.95)

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