London Explored

No matter the kind or volume of travel one typically does, the COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably impacted all of our travel habits. Thanks to the pandemic, I’ve been home a lot more–and I think I finally figured out one purpose of a coffee-table book: to allow its reader to armchair travel. I hadn’t fully appreciated that potential until I picked up a copy of Peter Dazeley and Mark Daly’s London Explored.

While London Explored covers many of the “usual suspects” in and around London proper (i.e. St. Paul’s Cathedral, Albert Memorial, the Natural History Museum, and even lesser-known–but still amazing–locations like Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College), it particularly excels in highlighting those places most tourists don’t know about. There’s truly something for everyone in this read. Airplane buffs, for example, will enjoy the multiple locations focusing on historic planes (including Bentley Priory Museum, the RAF HQ for ~75 years; and Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, a significant RAF fighter station during the Battle of Britain). Aficionados of WWII history may seek out Clapham South Deep-Level Shelter, and engineers will be fascinated by Kirkaldy’s Testing Works.

One could easily use this book to craft a niche itinerary for their next visit to London (don’t mind me while I go do that! ). I, for one, would love to visit the Museum of the Order of St. John, Leadenhall Market, and Drapers’ Hall–and, while I’m at it, Raqib Shaw’s Sausage Factory (an art studio and house built in a former sausage factory). Keats’ House and Southside House would be great to visit with my parents; I bet my mom would get a kick out of Keats’ kitchen, I’ll be lost in the Southside library (and love every minute!), and my dad would be exploring the Southside grotto. We’d all enjoy the many Southside references to the Prince of Wales, Marie Antoinette, and others straight out of “The Scarlet Pimpernel” (sink me!).

Part history lesson, part gorgeous photography, the book will surely tide over each of us until we’re ready to travel again–as well as bring back memories when we come home.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

With 213 photos this book is visually a treat for people who enjoy London. The book is broken down by different sections of the city. Some of the locations will be very familiar to any tourist to London such as Albert Memorial or Admiralty Arch. But for me where the book shines is getting inside places that are normally closed to tourists. Private clubs, distilleries, houses and even the underground subway platform that is on the cover. There is a nice write up about each location and the photos. But there isn't always details on if the location is open to the general public. This isn't a travel guide, but I have added more sites to my must visit list for my next trip to London. Great gift for a London or photography lover. Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group-White Lion for the temporary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

London Explored is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in London and its hidden gems. Some of the places mentioned I was already familiar with, but one or two I'd never heard of before, so I added them to my list of places to visit the next time I am there. The accompanying photos balance perfectly with the text, and the book in its entirety is nicely presented, making it a delight to flick through. If you've already seen all of London's main tourist sites and are looking for somewhere new to explore, this book is certain to give you a few ideas. It gets four stars from me.

London is well known for landmarks like Big Ben, the Tower of London and London Bridge, but Dazeley has made a career of exploring some of the lesser well known landmarks and sharing them with readers. In his latest book, readers go on a tour inside some of the most exclusive homes and government building, giving readers a glimpse into the a world few know. Fascinating and beautiful

This title offers a unique glance at one photographer’s London. Organized by neighborhood, the book features photographs with descriptions of the sites. Some of these are well-known, while others were certainly new to me. For example, there is a Foundling Hospital where Handel had been a patron. Then, what about the London Sewing Machine Museum or Raqib Shaw’s Sausage Factory. There are also more familiar sites including the London Library and Lambeth Palace Gardens. Both armchair and real travelers may well enjoy losing themselves in these pages. The text that accompanies the photos is packed with information. I found this to be an absorbing escape from my own home.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Absolutely stunning! A fascinating variety of London sites, a few well-known, but most a bit off the beaten path, are featured with gorgeous, detailed photography and interesting articles.

While this would be a delight for any armchair traveler, it's a veritable to-do list for anyone eager to get back to travel. I loved some of the most eclectic and offbeat choices--a car storage facility, a Blitz shelter, a neon junkyard--and can't wait to visit. This is well-organized by area, so it would also be easy to make a day out of visiting a few at a time if one was within reasonable traveling distance of London.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

This book has amazing pictures and wonderful description about where and what the history is on the photo. Gives one a wide range of ideas to put on a bucket list when going to visit London.

This book is for anyone who loves London. With over 200 full color pictures it features many of London’s hidden treasures. While some of the locations are easily recognizable like the natural history museum, St. Pauls, and Prince Albert Memorial, there are many places I had never heard of even after having lived in London. Something unique in this book is that many of the locations are closed to the general public so the only chance for us commoners to view inside is through a book like this. Like I said many of the places in the book I had never heard of and a few (the ones open to the public) have made my list for my next trip to London. This book is not a travel guide. Instead it provides a history of each of the locations and their significance in the city. I would be interested in learning how each location was chosen and why some places were selected over others. I liked both the notes from the writer and photographer because they made it clear that a lot of thought and effort went into this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quatro Publishing Group – White Lion for the ARC.

London is a fascinating place with little treasures hidden in plain sight. "London Explored' is a beautifully illustrated collection of private houses, public museums and unusual buildings, some of which can only be accessed by the public on special Open Days or private membership.

I was fascinated to learn the history of some of the structures within walking distance of where I work and feel inspired to do some exploring of my own. One building I am particularly looking forward to visiting is the Old Lloyds Bank once it has been reincarnated as a restaurant pub. Thank you 'London Explored" for the inspiration. :-)

A beautifully illustrated book of some top sights to see in London—many offbeat and off the beaten trail. A must for anyone traveling to London

This is a Non-Fiction book all about different places in London. I found this book to be so much fun to read all about the different places in London. I also found the pictures to be so great, and the pictures really helped you picture the place the book was talking about. This book as a ton of gorgeous pictures. I think my very favorite part of this book was the pictures, but I loved the writing and learning about the history. I read parts of this book with my daughter, and I also read parts of this book with my twin boys. We are still not traveling because of everything going on right now, so this book let us travel around London just by reading it. One day I hope to visit London. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Frances Lincoln) or author (Peter Dazeley and Mark Daly) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

That is the kind of book that allows the reader travel to the place showed up between the pages. What a curious and interesting places We find here. Most of them is not so famous when We plan a trip, but as Museum explorer kind of traveler, I'll defintely put a few on my bucket list. Great job.

This is a wonderfull book - both for those who know London well and those visiting it for the first time.
there are so many hidden gems here that I have already started planning several destinations for my next visit.
In this book you get all the info you need but also the encouragement to visit, explore and experience a London you might never have done otherwise.
Warmly recommend to anyone in search for a little beatuy and a little magic.

London Explored is an extraordinary collection of fascinating information and superlative photographs of obscure or less-visited places and monuments, several of which I had not heard of before. I have only been to a smattering of the places listed here but there is a remedy for that. Any time is a wonderful time to learn more about London and beyond but during a pandemic the travel itch needs to be scratched. At least we can add to existing lists or create new adventure lists! Which is precisely what I did.

When in historical cities such as London it is easy to be overwhelmed by extrasensory experiences. How often have we strolled by beautiful buildings without noticing details? When traveling I remind myself to look up and down, preferably without tripping. In this book are chapels, museums, memorials, a "junkyard", palaces, bronze sculptures, factory and even a grotto. Some places are purpose built, others not.

Some of these magical places include poignant The Animals in War Memorial, exotic lady's room at Annabel's, the incredibly sad Foundling Museum, riveting Grant Museum of Zoology with its Blaschka collection, The London Library which houses 27 km of books (what a dream!) and boasts memberships of literary greats, magnificent Crosby Moran Hall with its illustrious guests, Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery (that drawing room!), Keats House and glorious Garden Museum & Lambeth Palace. There are at least sixty three such discoveries.

I learned about the "Oranges and Lemons" link and the riveting Dowding System. Southside House is one of my favourites in this book, so whimsical with story to the rafters, Same with Sutton House, especially the kitchen. I had no idea the London Sewing Machine Museum existed but wow, talk about interesting.

Anyone who enjoys ogling London or dreaming of it, do seek out this book. It is sure to inspire.

My sincere thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this astonishing book.

I loved to explore London vicariously with the help of this book and I hope some day in the near future I can visit some the place that are mentioned in the book in person. It contains a lot of photos that make that desire to grow and grow until the day I can see the places myself.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of London Explored by Peter Dazeley and Mark Daly. If you love traveling around London, this is the book for you. As someone who has been to London numerous times and has seen the tourist locations, this was a pleasant surprise! I can't wait to go back and check out many of the places shown and written about such as The Metropolitan Police Historic Vehicle Collection, London Sewing Machine Museum, East London Liquor Company, and the Clapham South Deep-level Shelter. The author writes about each location with fun details and descriptions which blends nicely with the photographs to highlight and entice the reader to visit by the photographer. I learned quite a bit about each location but the information was not overwhelming. I love the hidden gems that are brought to the light such as the places described in this book. Enjoy reading this book as you plan your next trip to London!

It was an excellent way to travel to London and discover new places that I will surely add to my list the day I can go back.
Some places are quite well known, other were new to me.
Lovely illustrations and interesting texts.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A beautifully photographed book of unique places in London.From the gorgeous Annabel’s to the fantastic London blibrary.Anyone who is planning a trip to London or if your an armchair traveler this is a lovely book to spend time with.#netgalley #quartobooks

I loved this book. It was quite a nostalgic experience looking at the photos in this beautiful book. I lived in London for over a decade and had visited many of the landmarks and buildings. There are also beautiful photographs of buildings not normally open to the public e.g. Lloyd’s of London - only opening for events like Open House London.

There were some buildings and locations that I just didn’t know existed e.g. Crystal Palace Subway and I relished having the opportunity to pore over the photos.

Definitely a book for anyone who loves London or has an interest in architecture / design.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for making this ARC available to me.

Highly successful, even if my digital review copy gave a horrendous resolution to the photos involved, this book does what it wants in revealing unexplored London. And the Natural History Museum, and St Paul's. No, this has a great handle on what is the obscure, the unobtainable and the much forgotten, so the (replica of the?) original water handpump that taught us about cholera is here, the London Library that you can only get a sniff at through membership or certain events, and specialist clubs, are all revealed here, and it just goes on and on. Heck, I can't ever remember actually stopping to look at Liberty's, let alone many of the other less accessible locales.

Both the text and the images give a hint as to why the most commonly visited sites also feature here – they're here, say, for the London history buff not aware Special Ops designed bombs and trained in the NHM, and for the scientist not allowed to see the stacks of stuffed giraffe heads and so much else held in storage. Immediately following that is a storage for hypercars, and a place for your £1m wheels to have a home in London. Forget the line that says 'if you have to ask how much it is, it's not for you,' here it's a case of 'if you have to ask where the bloody thing is, it's not for you.'

Speaking of getting in to these places, what this isn't is a gazetteer about how to gain entry. The Crosby (Moran) Hall and the OXO tower interior would both be wonderful destinations, but there's no mention as to whether tourists are allowed (I think they're not). Alexander Pope's grotto, now stuck under a school, does open occasionally, but you'll have to have a friend in Google to find out when. But no, this is much more concerned with the postcard – the primer to the site, hopefully gearing you to be interested in it, which it nearly managed even with the Oval cricket ground. It's not definitive, it's not one to carry around and be a completist over, but as a fun browse it certainly succeeds. Wonderful photos and a firm sense of what trivia and historical detail works make this a hit.

Thank you White Lion for the opportunity to review London Explored. My main criticism was that I had to read this beautifully illustrated coffee table book on a tablet when clearly it needs to be appreciated in printed form.

As a student of London, there's always something new to discover, and I found this book a mine of information. It features many of the more familiar London icons, but includes the less familiar from the Gateshead Shield used to tunnel the early Tube to the London Sewing Machine Museum each described perfectly by Mark Daly.

Each bite-sized summation could standbon its own, but it is Peter Dazeley's sumptious photographs which sets the book apart from many London guides.