Real Bloomsbury is one of the best books about a neighborhood or city that I've ever read. The author has lived in Bloomsbury for the past dozen years, and it is at once a walking tour, a history of the neighborhood and its people, a short but vivid description of the main members of the Bloomsbury Group, and a personal account of the author's life as a Bloomsbury resident, including the day of the London bombings on 7/7, as he passed by Tavistock Square and Russell Square, the sites of the two of the bombings. I felt as if I was walking alongside him as he described what he saw and what he loved about the streets and buildings, and my repeated travels through the neighborhood in the past few years allowed me to appreciate the book that much more. I'm sure that I visibly beamed when he lovingly described the London Review Bookshop, my favorite London bookstore, and I know that I had a smile on my face at the end of the book. There aren't many books that gave me as much delight as this one, and I look forward to reading it again next week as I walk along the streets of Bloomsbury. ( )