The Great Fire of London: In That Apocalyptic Year, 1666

by Neil Hanson

Book Overview

Acclaim for The Great Fire of London

"Popular narrative history at its best, well researched, imaginatively and dramatically written. . . . The author marshals his story and his mass of contemporary quotations with great skill."
-Times Literary Supplement

"The brilliance of its narrative chapters . . . a marvelous eye for evocative detail. Hanson's prose is animated by the ferocious energy of the fire and seems to be guided...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471218227
• ISBN13: 9780471218227
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful

The Dreadful Judgement is a wonderful book to read. Once I began reading, I could not go a day with at least completing another chapter. Will be appreciated by not only anglophiles, but also persons who simply like natural disaster plots or with appreciation towards social commentary in a historical context. Overall, it is a great book, and would recommend to anyone who is remotely cultured.

A Dramatic Read

There's a touch of the novel about this book, but in a good way. The author 'fills in' what certain characters were thinking. This is a good thing; it adds reality to the facts of what happened. The book covers the time from the start of the fire to the ending of it, how the people reacted, and he gives a very nice chapter about fires in general, how a fire of this size behaves. Overall, the book seems very historically accurate and brings to life how miserable an event the Great Fire of London must've been. I always thought that the Great Fire was the reason there was no longer any Plague in London, but the author gives good reason why this is probably not the case. I enjoy books about Restoration England and this was not a disappointment.

Maps

To answer the query of a reviewer below, there are maps on pages 61, 77 and 109 showing the progress of the fire. The book also has many contemporary illustrations. This is an exciting book, revealing just how fair and how foul the human character can reveal itself in times of disaster.

A Nice Popular History

This is a history for the nonhistorian. That is not meant as a criticism. It is meant as a selling point. There are not thousands of footnotes, but do you really read those things?This book should interest historians, people who travel frequently to London and the general reading public who are just curious. It takes us back into the world where death from plague was a daily threat and parents lost child after child. Death was a daily companion. Age 35 was an old man. People married young because they had to. By 40 they would probably be dead--especially women who dropped like flies in childbirth.Then, one night in a baker's house in Pudding Lane the house caught fire. At first it did not look like much but eventually it consumed virtually the entire old city of London.Efforts to fight the fire, led by Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York, were unsuccessful. With the primitive water mains broken, the only way was to dynamite houses.When it was all over, the medieval city was gone to be replaced by ruins. The plague disappeared helped along no doubt by the immolation of the rats. Rebuilding began immediately. We all know (or should) about Sir Christopher Wren building all those churches.And punishment for the fire? One deranged man, who had nothing to do with it was executed.I read right through this book and so will you. Enjoy!

A glimpse into the 1600s...

The Great Fire of London was a catastrophic event, destroying much of London in 1666, and is the basis of Hanson's excellent book. He sets the scene superbly, beginning by describing the life and mood of London in 1666 in a vivid manner. By bringing to life some of the characters of the time, such as the baker Thomas Farriner, in whose premises the fire began, and King Charles II, the story is given a neat personal touch and makes for much more interesting reading. Once Hanson has described the setting, and filled in background issues, such as the plague of the previous year and the (un)popularity of the King, he commences on the initiation and spread of the fire in a breath taking fashion. It literally is quite gripping reading, and I was glued to the pages, unable to put the book down. It only lets up once the fire is out, and the great loss of property and personal items is realised and the enornmous task of rebuilding greater London begins. Hanson also describes the mob mentality of the Londoners in seeking out would be arsonists, assumed to be foreigners (England was waging a war against Holland at the time). The person hanged for the alleged arson, Hubert, was as Hanson tells us, most likely innocent. There are other suspects, even the King himself.To sum up, this is an excellent read of an important event in London's history. People interested in London history would no doubt enjoy the book, but Hanson's literary style will appeal to many people just looking for interesting reading.