Death and Destruction on the Thames in London by Anthony Galvin

Death and Destruction on the Thames in London by Anthony Galvin ISBN-13: 9781912786688 ebook: 299 pages Publisher: Sapere Books Released: Feb. 4, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The history of London is bound up with the infamous river that flows through its centre. It is both the giver of life to the city and the bringer of destruction. It was a centre of trade and allowed people to travel. But it also brought pollution and sewage from upstream, caused floods, and its inky blackness has been a heart-breaking siren call to suicides.

As London evolved from a sparse ancient civilisation into the bustling multicultural hub it is today, many of its great tragedies played out on the banks of the Thames: the infamous Gunpowder Plot, the devastating Great Fire of 1666 and the destruction wreaked by Second World War bombing.

In Death and Destruction on the Thames in London, Anthony Galvin follows the history of this great city and looks at how the river has played a part in the political events – and deadly occurrences - which have shaped the modern world.


My Review:
Death and Destruction on the Thames in London provides a series of brief, grim stories centered around the Thames from throughout London's history. The author talked about disasters, accidents, crime and murder, destruction occurring during war, disease, floods, river pollution, smog, suicide, execution, and more. Many of these stories provided interesting bits of London's history, like the Gunpowder Plot, the many fires including the Great Fire, the building of various tunnels under the river, and the Frost Fairs. We're given details about what happened and even some quotes from people who witnessed the events.

However, some chapters, especially the chapters on the executions and suicides, focused so much on the grisly details of the death and violence that it wasn't pleasant reading. I ended up skimming about a third of the book because of that. While I have heard details of many of these events in other books, I did learn some new things about the river.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.