Rating: 
Summary: Not as dry as most textbooks....not as fun as most novels
Review: I found the book to be very slow moving. It seems that Rutherfurd committed to historical accuracy at the expense of attention-keeping activity. While most chapters finished in an interesting fashion, it felt a labor to get there. I must admit that at times I found the book informative on various points of London's history, overall it is not an easy read.
Rating: 
Summary: Rutherford does a good job
Review: Rutherford's historical fiction of London is well done and easy to read. Hard to put down and you are learning as you read. The flow is excellent and I would heartily recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Glittering Panoramic Fictionalisation
Review: A dazzling epic stroll, this book does for London what Jostein Gaarder's "Sophies's World" did for philosophy. In a series of vignettes encapsulating key events, the development of London is charted through the burgeoning branches of half-a-dozen families. From the first Thamesside settlements to the modern metropolis, each historical moment is filled with integrity, occasionally mingling real characters with the fictional cast. The plot incorporates marriages, affairs, deceptions, murders, tragedies, ironies, and proceeds quickly after the novel's unfocused start. Since the events occur within both London's developing topography and England's national history, the city takes on two roles: (1) urban heartland, and (2) microcosm of England. Aside from a cracking yarn, expect to have your general knowledge improved. The amount and scope of information - historical, sociological, cultural, technological, architectural, financial - is staggering. Yet it never clouds the narrative. Helpful - actually, essential - maps and families are provided at the beginning. But don't be tempted to look ahead!
Rating:
Summary: An incredible cast of characters...
Review: If you've read other people's reviews, you know by now this book reads more like a collection of short stories than a novel. That being out of the way, let me say that the stories are delightful. There are 21 of them averaging 40-50 pages, I'd give many of them 5 stars, some 4 and some 3, averaging it out to a four star book. The stories are an incredible weave of drama, history, romance, suspense, mystery, horror (yes, the plague!), anthropology, politics, psychology, and more. There is an incredible cast of characters, many you will root for, some you will boo and hiss when they appear. I'll agree with some other reviewers, it can be hard to keep track of all the characters. True, you can still enjoy chapters 18-21 without remembering anything about chapters 1-4, but the geneaology is tied together throughout in interesting ways, and it can be interesting to see similar characteristics pop up in a family through the years, some subtle and some "in your face"(one obvious one that comes up over and over is the Ducket/Dogget family with a white streak in their hair and webbed hands...) Also fun to read are the many "cameo" appearances by real-life historical figures. From Julius Caesar, to Geoffrey Chaucer and Shakespeare, to Pocohontas. I like the fact that none of the stories actually focus on these major figures however (that's all been done before) . . .they're all about the "common man," the affect that historical developments have on several every day people, from the poor to the wealthy. Rutherfurd touches upon many historical happenings, some major, some minor. But he makes it fun to read, no matter what the subject. My favorites were "Londinium," "London Bridge," "The Tower," "The Whorehouse," and "The Globe." Why didn't I give it five stars? A few of the stories got a little too political and hard for me to keep track of who was in what party and had which viewpoints. But overall, he keep the politics light and easy to read in most of the stories. I'd suggest that anybody give it a try. If the first few stories suck you in, be prepared for 800 plus pages of reading pleasure!
Rating: 
Summary: History (and Literature) Lite
Review: Rutherford takes on the formidable task of relating 2,000 years of London history and must be given some credit for the result. He has obviously done a great deal of research of his subject and doesn't overburden the reader with an overly detailed , dry, scholastic recounting here. Considering the amount of ground he covers, (taking us from the period of Roman occupation to the German Blitzkrieg), he does so rather economically. The problem lies in his failure to provide us with a coherent narrative. His framing device of a hidden hoard of gold Roman coins comes off as contrived. His method of detailing generational threads leaves a lot to be desired. Though he strives for at least a quasi-realistic approach, how often, in real life, do succeeding generations mirror their ancestors to a degree they do here? Rutherford's approach is in fact anti-Darwinian. There is very little in the way of variation as one generation succeeds another. The offspring are practically clones of their forbears, with the same attitudes, attributes and overall composition. The bad seeds spawn more bad seeds. The good, honest, simple folk likewise pass on their exact characteristics to their children. Normally, in family trees, there is at least nominal deviation. Not so in Rutherford's London. The device makes it easier for the reader to make connections as the eras pass forth, but true history, we remind ourselves, doesn't happen this way. The book, therefore, succeeds as a primer in the history of a city. We are given the relevant details of the Roman conquest, medieval revolt, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Great Plague, followed shortly thereafter by the Great Fire, etc., etc. Keep in mind, however, that it is a primer only. In some respects the drawbacks are similar to those faced by Lady Antonia Fraser in her book, The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England. Just as the reader becomes engrossed, or at the least engaged, in the period depicted, the author skips on to a different era and a new story. Of course, in Fraser's defense, she does treat the Royals in much more depth in all of her other books. If you enjoy Rutherford's accounts, please look to authors such as Daniel Defoe (on the Plague), Samuel Pepys (The Plague, the Fire and the Resoration in general). For amusement, as well as insight, you can't go wrong with Boswell's London Journal or his life of Samuel Johnson. For a compelling account of the Wat Tyler revolt in medieval London, turn to Tuchman or Froissart. A better contemporary novel depicting Restoration London is Rose Tremain's book, Restoration, which can be found here on Amazon. For the most vivid account of London in the 18th century, turn to Jonathan Swift's poem, "A Description of a City Shower." If you want the history, without the fiction, there have been at least four full-scale London histories written in the past decade, most notable among them is Stephen Inman's A History of London.
Rating:
Summary: good read
Review: I picked this up at the library book sale in HardBack. It contains more politics than I personally enjoy, but does seem to be a historical summation of things that happened in/around London since the beginning of time. Quite interesting if you are interested in tidbits of "current events" over the centuries and a bit of human interest as well. :)
Rating:
Summary: London: By Edward Rutherfurd
Review: Few authors are capable of maintaining genuin interest in a subject throughout 1100+ pages, but Rutherfurd manages not only an interesting story, but one you will not be able to put down. Fastpaced exitement on every page.
Rating:
Summary: All you ever wanted to know about London
Review: I am living in London at the moment and thought it might be nice to read a book set in the streets I now walk everyday so I picked this up. There were some great moments in this book, that I liked just because of the familiarity of the surroundings 'oh so that's what the Charing Cross is' and I might actually be able to win a few thousand pounds on British 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' with the trivia of Kings and Queens I picked up, but I have to admit the story was lacking. I kept waiting for something to bring it all togethor but alas I was constantly disapointed everytime a new century started in the book. To call it a collection of short stories is more accurate, with some of the stories better than the others (see the foundling Ducket jump off the bridge to save the women he loves, my personal favorite). all in all I picked up quite a bit of London history, and the book was usually entertaining but I was dissapointed that is did not flow better.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Hard for a City to be the Hero
Review: If you feel that finishing a book is prerequisite to reviewing it, stop here! I had as much of this book as I could stomach and put it down. This book is more a collection of inter-twined short stories than anything else. Maybe the genre of historical soap-opera can be established, for this book certainly has enough fans. I just can't get into it. Rutherford should have picked a newer city for his biography, so that he would not have to write so much "filler" in order to get to the end. Pillars of the Earth is a much better novel (built around a central theme of the building of a cathedral) but only takes place over a few decades.
Rating:
Summary: The evolution of a grand city
Review: Rutherford takes on a handful by tackling the history of London and the many permutations the city has gone through since the Romans, but he really does it in style. By tracing a few conspicuous genetic traits, we follow several family lines through the Norman Conquest, the Reformation, Shakespeare, Elizabethan times, the Industrial revolution, WWII, and everything in between. Although events in the lives of the various family members in the novel is written in such a way as to pique one's interest in the parallel historical events of the time, at the end of the novel no one character stands out. It seems, instead, that the same heros and villians are just reborn every chapter. Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable work of historical fiction that will probably become an enduring classic.
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