Spectacular Vernacular: London's 100 Most Extraordinary Buildings
David Long

Lifting the lid on London, and richly illustrated with more than 150 new, specially commissioned photographs, the book reveals the stories behind London's strangest and most enigmatic buildings. Some are open to the public, if you know who to ask. Others remain strictly off-limits, thus heightening the sense of mystery surrounding them. But many are so familiar that that few of us ever stop to consider just how curious they are. In the heart of Kensington, for example, a 300ft tower attracts few glances because even the locals don’t know it’s there. South of the river the city’s widest building at nearly 1,000ft has been favourably compared to the Winter Palace at St Petersburg. And in Chelsea a medieval hall, once home to a king and moved brick by brick from the City to escape demolition, has been extensively remodelled as London’s largest private house. Elsewhere one finds an arts centre built of old shipping containers, a Victorian explorer lying dead in a tent, literally acres of secret underground government offices, even a privately-owned tunnel running beneath the Thames and large enough to drive a car through.