Dickens's London

Numberless books about aspects of Dickens's London have been written but here is one that actually has a practical utility in that it enables you to pace the streets today and see exactly which locations the author had in mind when he positioned his fictional characters in those districts of London he knew so well.  Written by Peter Clark and published by Haus in its "Armchair Traveller" series, Dickens's London, (£9.99, hardback) is based around five central London walks and, based on a road-test of the sections in Bloomsbury that I am familiar with from my own recent book, Real Bloomsbury (Seren, 2011), I'd say it is accurate and full of relevant detail and a great excuse to go walking in central London with a theme to follow.  It's an attractive, pocket-sized hardback, and probably one of the more useful and substantial of the Bicentenary missiles that will shortly be raining down on us.