A highly erudite and perceptive description of the people and culture of the city that was once the capital of the world, and now of Britain. Britain, of course, is most closely bound up with the growth of parliamentary democracy, but achieved in stages, with comparatively less bloodshed and revolution. The author takes us to all the inner precincts, of the gentlemen's clubs and the people's pubs, the centers of creative arts and the fairgrounds, the parks and the watering holes, the lobbies of parliament and the hallowed premises of law courts, the eastern quarter and the posh city centres. A delightful work, evocative of London before the information technology transformation, when people still interacted in the outdoors and community was still not a curiosity. ( )