London's Strangest Tales: Extraordinary but true stories from over a thousand years of London's History

By Tom Quinn

London’s Strangest Tales takes a walk on London’s weirder side with an absorbing collection of curious tales from one of the world’s greatest cities. This fascinating book is packed with amazing things you didn’t know about Britain’s capital, like the fact that it’s still forbidden to run, carry an umbrella or whistle in the Burlington Arcade, and the fat lamppost at the corner of Trafalgar Square that is secretly a tiny prison cell. And did you know that the entrance to Buckingham Palace you see from the Mall is actually the back door and not the front? The stories within these pages are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for a new generation of London-lovers, this book is a brilliant alternative guide to the city, whether you’re a visitor, a daily commuter or one of its 8 million inhabitants.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Portico
• Release date: Feb 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781911042303

Tom Quinn

Tom Quinn was born in Glasgow in 1948. Leaving school at 15, he worked in a shipping line office for some years, becoming involved in the North Sea Oil industry, at one stage, captaining a barge on the River Clyde. He moved to Rotterdam, the world’s largest port, in 1975 where he continued his career in shipping, making regular trips to other European cities. He returned to Scotland and became a founding partner in a small shipping and forwarding company before emigrating to Australia in 1988. In his time in Australia, as part of his work for the oil industry, he has spent time living and working in Melbourne, Darwin, and visiting Singapore, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. In 2000, he won the HarperCollins Fiction Prize for his first novel, Striking It Poor. Tom is married and now lives in Melbourne with his wife, three children and nine grandchildren. He plays the guitar, reads literature, listens to classical music, and occasionally works as a logistics consultant for a major multinational.

Reviews for London's Strangest Tales

[wrichard_22 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As long as you take these stories with a pinch of salt they are amusing titbits of londan lore that are fairly well known. Covering many years in chronological order they can still be dipped into. Something good for a long train or aircraft journey, which was undoubtedly the author's/publisher's intention.

[kevincannon1968 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just the sort of book that I love. A fascinating collection of London facts and anecdotes each one giving an interesting look at the hidden secrets of England's most historic city.Each chapter is just the right length to impart its facts but remain fresh and interesting without getting bogged down with extraneous detail.Definitely a book you can either read from cover to cover or just dip into for a random fact to amaze your friends