Making the Metropolis. Creators of Victoria's London

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In 1801 the population of London was almost one million. A century later it was 6m. Stephen Halliday's beautifully illustrated book shows how the ramshackle collection of communities that entered the 19th century became the world’s first metropolis.

This amazing story is told through the lives of eight men: JOHN NASH defined the modern West End with his ‘New Street’ (Regent Street). MARC BRUNEL invented the tunnelling shield that made the underground railways possible.

THOMAS CUBITT built houses for aristocrats in Belgravia and homes for the middle classes at Pimlico and Bloomsbury. SIR CHARLES BARRY built the New Palace of Westminster to replace the charred ruins of the old one.

SIR JOSEPH PAXTON designed the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851, the profits of which enabled ALFRED WATERHOUSE to build the Natural History Museum and thus begin the South Kensington museums.

SIR JOSEPH BAZALGETTE built the sewers, streets and parks that made the metropolis a safe place to live, and SIR EDWARD WATKIN, chairman of the Metropolitan Railway, began the process that created the suburbs of Metroland and elsewhere.

About the Author

Stephen Halliday is one of the foremost authorities on Victorian London, with a special interest in the engineers and builders who created the city as we know it.

He was educated at Brentwood School, Essex and at Pembroke College, Cambridge and is now a lecturer at Buckinghamshire Business School.

He has written for History Today, The Observer, The Guardian, the
Financial Times and the Independent.