From centuries old to brilliantly new, a stroll down any of the capital's high streets provides a glorious miscellany of history and design. For shops are no longer just somewhere we buy things you can do that virtually, these days - but places we gather inspiration, browse for creativity and happen upon special objects. This compendium of London's 100 most interesting stores, restaurants and cafes pairs original photography with insights into the sites' past lives and the artistic thinking behind their distinct exteriors and unique signage, as well as insider's tips on exactly when and why to visit now.

A collection of Eleanor Crow's beautiful watercolours of classic shopfronts. Published in partnership with Spitalfields Life Books, this timely volume celebrates the small neighbourhood shops of London. As our high streets decline into generic monotony, we cherish these independent shops and family businesses that enrich the city with their characterful frontages and distinctive typography. This collection includes more than 100 of Eleanor Crow's fine illustrations of the capital's bakers, cafes, butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers, chemists, launderettes, hardware stores, eel & pie shops, bookshops and stationers. The pictures are accompanied by the stories of the shops, their history and their shopkeepers – stretching all the way from Chelsea in the west to Bethnal Green, Clerkenwell and Walthamstow in the east. As well as beloved old and lost shopfronts, there are some recent examples of new shops that have been beautifully designed too – from cheesemongers to chippies. At a time of momentous change in the high street, this witty and fascinating personal survey champions the enduring culture of Britain's small shops.

"I am going to write every single day and tell you about my life here in Spitalfields at the heart of London..." Drawing comparisons with Pepys, Mayhew and Dickens, the gentle author of Spitalfields Life has gained an extraordinary following in recent years, by writing hundreds of lively pen portraits of the infinite variety of people who live and work in the East End of London. Everything you seek in London can be found here - street life, street art, markets, diverse food, immigrant culture, ancient houses and history, pageants and parades, rituals and customs, traditional trades and old family businesses. Spend a night in the bakery at St John, ride the rounds with the Spitalfields milkman, drop in to the Golden Heart for a pint, meet a fourth-generation paper bag seller, a mudlark who discovers treasure in the river Thames, a window cleaner who sees ghosts and a master bell-founder whose business started in 1570. Join the bunny girls for their annual reunion, visit the wax sellers of Wentworth Street and discover the site of Shakespeare's first theatre. All of human life is here in Spitalfields Life.

London's Soho district underwent a spectacular transformation between the late Victorian era and the end of the Second World War: its fin-de-siècle buildings and dark streets infamous for sex, crime, political disloyalty, and ethnic diversity became a center of culinary and cultural tourism servicing patrons of nearby shops and theaters. Indulgences for the privileged and the upwardly mobile edged a dangerous, transgressive space imagined to be "outside" the nation. Treating Soho as exceptional, but also representative of London's urban transformation, Judith Walkowitz shows how the area's foreignness, liminality, and porousness were key to the explosion of culture and development of modernity in the first half of the twentieth century. She draws on a vast and unusual range of sources to stitch together a rich patchwork quilt of vivid stories and unforgettable characters, revealing how Soho became a showcase for a new cosmopolitan identity.

Join acclaimed photographer Georgianna Lane and explore the flower markets, gardens, and floral boutiques of London in this full-color celebration of the flora of England’s capital. London in Bloom showcases the floral abundance of the city’s extraordinary parks, gardens, florists, and flower markets. In this companion to her popular books Paris in Bloom and New York in Bloom, Georgianna Lane takes us on a romantic floral tour of London, juxtaposing luscious blooms with intricate floral details found in iconic architecture. The book also includes: A detailed list of recommended parks, gardens, markets, and floral designers A spring tour of blossoms and blooms A field guide of common spring-blooming trees and shrubs Step-by-step instructions for creating a London-style bouquet And more Lane offers a practical travel guide for anyone planning to see London in bloom in real life. She plans out a tour of spring blossoms, with a field guide for identifying flowering trees and shrubs. She even includes a list of addresses for her favorite parks, gardens, floral boutiques, and flower markets. Lane writes, “No place, real or imagined, enchants quite like an English garden. The ornate gates, the tumbling roses, the winding paths, and the sunlight winking through branches of delicate blossoms have long inspired poetry and romance. . . . Some are intimate and secret, with secluded corners and mysterious pools where dragonflies hover or fantastic creatures might even dwell. Others are impressive and majestic, their rolling parklands reminiscent of an eighteenth-century landscape painting.” For flower lovers and Anglophiles alike, London in Bloom offers a unique and irresistible view of London, a chance to bring “poetry and romance” to your home or to give it as a gift.

From secluded mews to undiscovered cafes, flower markets, and tree-lined streets, prettycitylondon champions the quiet, gentle moments that allow you to escape in a huge capital city like London. If you know where to look, you will find that traditional shop fronts, vintage transport, artisan bakeries, florists, and bookstores are but a hop skip and a jump from the center, and some right bang in the middle. Curated by founder and editor of Instagram's @prettycitylondon, this stunning guide also includes tips on how to photograph and plan your own prettycitylondon experience, whether on foot or from afar.