At times ghoulish but always fascinating…

This was a book full of facts, observances and trivia to make any history buff very happy indeed. Taking the reader from Roman times to today, any and all happenings that were in, surrounded by, or on top of, the Thames, were included.

Each chapter devoted itself to a particular topic including raging and devastating fires, London bridges (and their reconstructions), marine accidents, floating prisons, historical figures, war and so much more. Within those chapters were distinct snippets detailing a particular incident or happenstance that fed into the topic, always circling back to cause and effect on Thames and London. Some were highly detailed, chronicled by personal observances and archivists of the day. Other mini-stories had little to provide in terms of factual data yet left behind relics or markers to acknowledge them.

A city and country prospered and perished again and again on the river and its significance to history, business and the culture of life on its banks was captured very eloquently here. I read an advanced e-copy and I wished there would have been maps included to give much-needed context for this non-Londoner. Having those included would have easily bumped my reading enjoyment even higher.

*I happily reviewed this story
**Thank you to Sapere Books and NetGalley

Thanks to the publishers, the author, and NG for this copy in exchange for my review. WOW I loved this the shores of the Thames are hopping! I never thought about that. It was a very exciting book for me because I find it rare to locate books like this one that describes the people, the crimes, the dereliction, of the past. Definitely a great book.

What a fun, brutal book! I know that those two descriptors don't seem to go together, but they do when it comes to Death and Destruction on the Thames in London. I love how Anthony Galvin gives the history of London through the "eyes" of the river. The reader really gets to see just how much that river has experienced and been through. All the deaths and all the blood and brutality that are in the history of the city of London are in the history of that river, too. Galvin does a good job of writing in a way that's easy to follow and to remain interested throughout the whole book.

London and the Thames have an amazing history! I haven't visited yet, but there is so much history there. Well, worth reading this book if you're keen on history of area. Loaded with details of events. Great research on the part of the author!

*Many thanks to Anthony Galvin, Sapere Books and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
An engaging read on (almost) everything that is lined to the history of the Thames. Superbly researched and written.

Well researched, just slow and dragged a bit in parts. There was a repetition of information; however, it may not be a problem for someone reading a bit at a time.

Thanks to Sapere and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

We may forget how rivers are part of our lives and how they affect us. I have a particular fondness for rivers having been brought up with the River Mersey in view and later to find myself living on the banks of the River Trent. Of course, the capital, London, has the biggest and most vibrant river of all, the Thames. 'The history of London is a history of the Thames' Galvin states in his introduction. How could I resist this gem of a book?

It is set out thematically as opposed to a timeline and this is a great strategy. In this way only the exciting parts of Thames' story has to be told. The first chapter, for instance, is all about the fires of London and lists all the years of significant burning. It covers the first major fire in AD 60 when London had its Roman name of Londinium. Here the great Iceni tribal queen Boudicca defeated the Romans who had settled there. Then the next fire in 122 AD, and so on.

The other chapters cover the World Wars and the Blitz, the buildings that line the river, their purpose and those who lived and worked there, bridges and the criminal and strange goings on, royal and otherwise. Kings and politics go as far back as Anglo-Saxon times with famous names such as King Canute and Harold of arrow-in-the-eye fame.

The topical chapters make this a book you can dip in to when you feel the need to find out about a particular aspect. But this work is such a pleasure to read, it lacks the dry textbook approach to the extent that it reads like a novel, almost. Once you start you won't want to stop. Fantastic. This should be a set book schools, the pupils will be running to history lessons mark my words.

Choke-full of interesting facts this makes a good "a chapter here and there" book, but is rather monotonous and dull when read in one sitting.

I truly enjoyed the facts about London and the Thames, I didn't like the "enthusiastic tour guide" tone of the writing.

This was an fairly interesting and informative history of London and its river, but could have done with a healthy bit of editing. Unlike the Thames itself, it doesn’t flow very well, and some repetition slows down the narrative. It’s handily divided into chapters on specific themes – fires, bridges and so on – rather than chronologically, and this makes it easy to dip in and out of (not recommended for the river itself) and I wish I’d realised this before I started reading. Ploughing (to mix metaphors) straight through makes for some choppy reading. There’s nothing very new here, and for those already familiar with the history of London not much to learn, but as an introduction to the city it certainly has a place.

This book was arguably more of a broad history of London rather than specifically the Thames, which was what I was expecting from the title, but as the book was pretty damn interesting I won’t quibble!

It was a fascinating collection of historical information about London from the past 2000 years, split up into chapters that included the history of fires in London, attempts to bridge and tunnel the Thames (possibly my favourite chapter) and a fascinating section about the executions that took place in the city over the years.

That author adds their own take on things, which makes it more entertaining than a non-fiction book might otherwise be which is why I managed to finish this book in one go. It takes a broad view on the history of London rather than an in depth one so I would highly recommend it to readers looking for a crash course in history.

There are a few repetitions of information between chapters that I picked up on, but not so many that it feels like the same book twice… especially since the repetitions tended to be of my favourite bits of information.

A through history of the Thames river that flows through london i found this much more interesting than I thought it would be and very easy to read

Author Anthony Calvin gives his readers a look at the famous Thames River in London. Going into detail about fires, crimes, the wars, shipping disasters, bridge building, architecture and the royal families. With very detailed accounts, the Thames River was the scene of many cruel deaths, by suicide, as well as, murder. This is a great resource for anyone that has a fascination of the history of London. I found it to be an enjoyable and knowledgeable read.

This books looks at the Thames and how it has and does interact with the city of London. The premise was interesting but for me the format and style just didn’t work. The constant anecdotes I found irritating and there wasn’t enough factual information for me.
Sorry I just didn’t get on with this book.

My TBR changed quite a lot throughout the month and I wanted to read more non-fiction books so I opted for this ARC from Netgalley that sounded so interesting. It focuses on all of the events that feature the river Thames in some way, from bridges, ships, cargo, accidental deaths, murder, executions, crime and more, including how the city grew up along the banks of the river.

My favourite genre of non-fiction is history and I also love very specific or niche non-fiction too and I think this book fits into both categories. It did contain some information that I already knew but a fair amount that I didn't, for example, I didn't know that pirates were hanged along the river with a shorter length of rope so they would strange to death...and that Guy Fawkes wasn't hung, drawn and quartered because he jumped from the scaffold causing his neck to break.

I liked the short sections of information as it made the book easily consumable and a quicker read. I also liked the more casual writing style along with a plethora of interesting facts about the river, London itself and all of the events that happened on or around the river. My only negative was that some of the information was repeated a couple of times throughout the book - even the same or very similar sentences. Overall, I enjoyed this read and I'd recommend it to those who are interested in the history of London and the Thames.

This was an interesting book to dip in and out of. It included lots of things that I already knew about with the added bonus of things that I didn't. The jousting on London Bridge was a revelation.

I've learnt so much about history and curious facts of my favourite city. I very much like the thematic division of the chapters, it is a bit different than the usual chronological staff of history books. On the other hand this cuases also the problem that there are quite some repetitions, what can be irritating when you read the book at once, instead of only reading a chapter that is interesting to you. Also the subheadingss and the information belonging to them is sometimes repetitive or not really in a logical order. I know London quite well, but I was missing a myp in some cases just to be able to look something up at the moment.
Ingeneral an interesting and informative book.

Anthony Galvin combines objective historical research with a novelist's ability to focus on the little details that make the historical events feel relatable and interesting. The result is a fascinating book about the Thames' history and how London has survived various disasters.

I loved this book! It is morbid and macabre and WONDERFUL.. I love London and this book compliments it the way a visit to the Tower of London does. It is bloody and terrifying and you wonder WHAT THE HECK?! It is truly a joy to read!

This was a fascinating read and I was excited to read this book. The writing was a little off for me.

An interesting look at how a river and city can interact and play an important role with each other. Takes a look at different things that happened on or surrounding the river. Nice for those who have an interest in London, rivers or bodies of water.