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  • Textbook
  • © 2019

An Anthology of London in Literature, 1558-1914

'Flower of Cities All'

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Ideal as set reading or recommended reading for any undergraduate course in literature or history that focuses on the development of The City (i.e. cities in general or London specifically)

  • Features key extracts about the city of London from some of the foremost writers to have written about it

  • Sections are introduced by accounts of the various contexts from which the passages are drawn: historical, social, cultural and geographic

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Table of contents (4 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvi
  2. Period 1: London—Birth of a New Order (1558–1659)

    • Geoffrey G. Hiller, Peter L. Groves, Alan F. Dilnot
    Pages 1-40
  3. Period 2: London in the Enlightenment (1660–1780)

    • Geoffrey G. Hiller, Peter L. Groves, Alan F. Dilnot
    Pages 41-90
  4. Period 3: London—New Riches, New Squalor (1781–1870)

    • Geoffrey G. Hiller, Peter L. Groves, Alan F. Dilnot
    Pages 91-176
  5. Period 4: London—Capital of Empire, 1871–1914

    • Geoffrey G. Hiller, Peter L. Groves, Alan F. Dilnot
    Pages 177-242
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 243-251

About this book

This book is an anthology of extracts of literary writing (in prose, verse and drama) about London and its diverse inhabitants, taken from the accession of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558 to the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. The 143 extracts, divided into four periods (1558-1659, 1660-1780, 1781-1870 and 1871-1914), range from about 250 words to 2,500. Each of the four periods has an introduction that deals with relevant social, geographical and historical developments, and each extract is introduced with a contextualizing headnote and furnished with explanatory footnotes. In addition, the general introduction to the anthology addresses some of the literary questions that arise in writing about London, and the book ends with many suggestions for further reading. It should appeal not only to the general reader interested in London and its representation, but also to students of literature in courses about ‘reading the city’. 




Editors and Affiliations

  • Glen Iris, Australia

    Geoffrey G. Hiller

  • Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Peter L. Groves, Alan F. Dilnot

About the editors

Peter L. Groves, Alan F. Dilnot and the late Geoffrey G. Hiller earned their doctorates at Cambridge and Oxford, and became Senior Lecturers in English Literature at Monash University, Melbourne, where Groves is still employed (in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics) and Dilnot holds an adjunct position. Hiller and Groves have between them published nine books, including four as co-authors.


Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access