Includes bibliographical references and index (pages 349-393).

Londinium: 43-410 -- Saxon City: 410-1066 -- Medieval metropolis: 1066-1348 -- The age of Chaucer and Whittington: 1348-1485 -- Tudor London: 1485-1603 -- Stuarts and Rebellion: 1603-1660 -- Restoration, calamity, recovery: 1660-1688 -- Dutch courage: 1688-1714 -- Hanoverian dawn: 1714-1763 -- A tarnished age: 1763-1789 -- Regency: the dawn of Nash: 1789-1825 -- Cubittopolis: 1825-1832 -- The age of reform: 1832-1848 -- The birth of a new metropolis: 1848-1860 -- The maturing of Victorian London: 1860-1875 -- Philanthropy versus the state: 1875-1900 -- Edwardian apothesis: 1900-1914 -- War and aftermath: 1914-1930 -- The climax of the sprawl: 1930-1939 -- Metropolis at war: 1939-1951 -- The great property boom: 1951-1960 -- Swinging city: 1960-1970 -- Recession years: 1970-1980 -- Metropolis renascent: 1980-1997 -- Going for broke: 1997-2008 -- Constructs of vanity: 2008 to the present.

London: a settlement founded by the Romans, occupied by the Saxons, conquered by the Danes and ruled by the Normans. This unremarkable place - not even included in the Domesday Book - became a medieval maze of alleys and courtyards, later to be chequered with grand estates of Georgian splendour. It swelled with industry and became the centre of the largest empire in history. And rising from the rubble of the Blitz, it is now one of the greatest cities in the world. From the prehistoric occupants of the Thames valley to the preoccupied commuters of today, Simon Jenkins brings together the key events, individuals and trends in London's history to create a matchless portrait of the capital. Based in part on his own witness of the events that shaped the post-war city, and with his trademark colour and authority, he shows above all how London has taken shape over more than two thousand years. This is narrative history at its finest, from the most ardent protector of our heritage.