"Like all the great historic cities of Europe, London appears to us solid and unchanging. But this solidity is an illusion, for throughout its long history London has been changing and evolving. It has been renewing or replacing the streets and buildings at its heart and has been spreading inexorably outwards." "In London: A Life in Maps this dynamic process is vividly illustrated by maps that have been drawn and published over the past 500 years; and this book offers a magnificent panorama of London's history by focusing on its maps. The link between London and Westminster; the devastation of the Great Fire; the emergence of the West End as a place of fashion: the opening of the Royal Parks; the building of the docks; the coming of the railway age; the impact of World Wars - all these processes and many more are evident in these historic maps." "Approximately 100 important maps from the mid-sixteenth century to the present day are illustrated and discussed."--BOOK JACKET.