London in the Eighteenth Century Author:Jerry White The story of an extraordinary century in the history of London. — — By 1700, after half a century of relentless expansion, London had overtaken Paris to become the largest -- if disputably the finest -- city in Europe. A striking feature of this monster city in 1700 was its newness. In September 1666 some three-fifths of the City of London had b... more »een destroyed in the Great Fire. The losses were immense -- 13,200 houses were burnt to the ground and so were most of the great public buildings, including St. Paul's Cathedral.
London in the Eighteenth Century details the growth of the city and urban change; the make-up of the Londoner from home and abroad; ways of earning a living from banking to begging; the public pleasures of London and the crime and prostitution that accompanied them; the tightening sinews of power and discipline; and the hesitant beginnings of London democracy.« less