The House by the Thames - Gillian Tindall

Absolutely my kind of book. It is history - but the true lively history, revealing so much about life over the centuries, and centred on people - at all levels of society. Superficially this is a book about a house - number 49 Bankside, located on the River Thames in London directly opposite to St Paul's Cathedral, and next door to what is now Tate Modern, in the old Bankside Power Station. Number 49 was built close on 300 years ago. But this book is really a study of the changes that have totally overwhelmed the whole of this area, from the time that the original Globe Theatre was in use, when this area outside the City of London, but linked to it by London Bridge, was a pleasure zone. Using the house as a hanger the author clothes the area through personalities and industries that inhabited this essentially rural district from the Middle Ages to today. We hear about lightermen and watermen, hatters and skinners, the pike ponds and bear pits. It is scattered with well known people (actors and writers, poets and bishops) but equal value comes from the often obscure inhabitants of this house. It was fun, educational, instructive and oh so interesting. Thankfully the volume was not weighed down with footnotes and obscure tangents, and generally meandered at the right pace. In many ways it is a miracle that this house survived when so much of this area has just disappeared. I knew so little about this area, but now I know so much. Rating: 8/10