London

London in the arts

Literature featuring London

London has been the setting for many works of literature. The two writers who are perhaps most closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, famous among other things for his eyewitness account of the Great Fire, and Charles Dickens, whose representation of a foggy, snowy, grimy London of street sweepers and pickpockets is a major influence on people's vision of early Victorian London.

Related Topics:
Samuel Pepys - Great Fire - Charles Dickens - Victorian

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James Boswell's 'Life of Samuel Johnson' is the most notable biography in English. Most of it takes place in London. The famous aphorism of Samuel Johnson, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life!" features alongside many other sayings and quips.

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Other famous works that feature London include A Journal of the Plague Year and Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, The Apes of God by Wyndham Lewis, Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby and White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Among contemporary writers perhaps the most pervasively influenced by the city is Peter Ackroyd in works such as London: The Biography, The Lambs of London and Hawksmoor.

Related Topics:
A Journal of the Plague Year - Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe - The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad - Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle - The Waste Land - T. S. Eliot - The Apes of God - Wyndham Lewis - Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell - Fever Pitch - Nick Hornby - White Teeth - Zadie Smith - Peter Ackroyd

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Films featuring London

London has appeared as the setting for many films, for example Notting Hill, and the Ealing comedies. There are gangster films and the romantic comedies of Richard Curtis. Adaptations of Dickens and the Sherlock Holmes novels abound.

Related Topics:
Notting Hill - Ealing comedies - Gangster film - Romantic comedies - Richard Curtis - Dickens - Sherlock Holmes

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London is home to a very large film post-production and special effects industry.

Related Topics:
Post-production - Special effects

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Television programmes featuring London

• Are You Being Served?
• The Bill
• Bottom
• Doctor Who
• EastEnders
• Family Affairs
• Minder
• Only Fools and Horses
• Men Behaving Badly
• Red Dwarf
• Spooks
• Ultraviolet
• Yes Minister
• Yes Prime Minister
• Spaced

Songs featuring London

• "Doing the Lambeth Walk", Music Hall favourite
• "London" by The Smiths
• "London Calling" by The Clash from the album London Calling
• "London Bridge is falling down", traditional nursery rhyme
• "Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner" by Hubert Gregg
• "Streets of London" by Ralph McTell
• "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks (recently voted London's 'national anthem' by Time Out magazine)
• "London Town" by The Wings from the album London Town
• "Lullaby of London" by The Pogues from the album If I Should Fall From Grace With God
• "The London Prentice" by Anonymous from the album Shakespeare's Musick by Philip Pickett and The Musicians Of The Globe
• "London Loves" by Blur from the album Parklife
• "London Still by The Waifs from the album A Brief History

Video Games featuring London

• The Getaway & The Getaway: Black Monday
• Grand Theft Auto