London

I surprised myself by getting to the end of this uninspiring chronicle without giving up. The concept is a reasonable one, but Rutherfurd's execution falls short. Obviously research has been done, but when you encounter a subject on which you yourself are an expert, it's equally obvious the research is only skin deep. The style is lumpy and, although it's supposedly a feature, I struggled to remember the relationships between the various families who recur in each period. Worse, many of the individual characters within each chapter failed to make their mark, and I had trouble following the story lines as a consequence. I can't recommend it; a good history book on London is more compelling reading.

I liked it as a story of London (tidbits and details about different areas and times), but was much less excited by the actual characters. They seemed a bit flat and contrived (who just happened to know Shakespeare, King Charles, etc.). There was also a whole lot of telling instead of showing. The constraint of also having to track a few families across hundreds of years also stretched the credibility even further. But I guess if you don't expect a whole lot going into this, it was an ok read.

Re-reading this book, it seems to be a little more slow than I remember the first time through