Very entertaining history of the city of London. I heartily endorse his conclusion that a healthy city depends on infrastructure. "I am struck by the importance of infrastructure of all kinds. If Aulus Plautius had not built the bridge, the city would not even have existed." Powers that be in Michigan & Detroit, are you listening? Clearly not. Tax cuts do not make a healthy and happy city - infrastructure and services do. Boris isn't everyone's cup of tea - I'm sure on that we can all agree. And I am sure my view of him is at least partially based on the fact that he isn't in a position to impact my life in any significant way as he would be if I lived in London. But I don't and so he doesn't and I can take great pleasure in the humor and enthusiasm of his writing. Boris seems to take great joy in discovering things about the place and sharing them with as many words as possible (he must have been weaned on a thesaurus). A fun, quick read. A deep read? No. If you want deep, grab an actually history book. But it's spot on for an amusing way to kill a few hours on a plane without having to wade through yet another "by the book" mystery of "chick lit by the numbers."
Great quirky history of London. Not really a page turner, but very interesting and funny.
—cammy22
A bit uneven but Boris doesn't overdo it. A good primer on London. Some great vignettes.
—Rose
He writes as he speaks
—Bookworm
