This is London

The Royal Horticultural Society's annual flower show held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea is almost over for another year. We didn't go this time, but we enjoyed the coverage on TV. Yesterday one of the presenters remarked on the huge numbers of visitors despite the inclement weather.  I had to smile because earlier in the day I was leafing through "This is London" by M. Sasek and come across this picture; 

This is London

But don't worry, most of the time it looks like this; 

The Tower of London

St. Paul's Cathedral 

The Houses of Parliament

The book features many other famous buildings, but my favourite illustrations are of the people - like this one of The Guards.

or this group of school children

City Gents

A Chelsea Pensioner

I also like the glimpses of 'old London'

like this famous shop ~

and these Elizabethan houses in High Holborn

Covent Garden Market

The New York Times Book Review, October 18, 1959, perfectly sums up this quirky book.

There are not many words in Miroslav Sasek's This is London, but those few are most memorable...

The colour is magnificent and uninhibited, the draughtsmanship brilliant but unobtrusive (one gradually realizes that these bold, stylized drawings are minutely accurate as well as true in general impression). The humour is characteristic and pervasive but always subordinate. The jokes are all pointed. Miroslav Sasek has drawn the visitor's London from foggy arrival to rainy departure. His book is a series of impressions, unrelated, one would think, but they add up to a remarkably complete picture of the modern city. The words and pictures are closely integrated; each has it terse style and humour.

M. Sasek ~ Universe Publishing ~ Originally Published in 1959 ~ New Updated Version 2004 

This is London is now sold, thank you for your interest.