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I Never Knew That About London
- Narrated by: Timothy Bentinck
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Best-selling author Christopher Winn takes us on a captivating journey around London to discover the unknown tales of our capital's history. Travelling through the villages and districts that make up the world's most dynamic metropolis, I Never Knew That About London unearths the hidden gems of legends, firsts, inventions, adventures and birthplaces that shape the city's compelling and at times turbulent past.
See the Chelsea river views that inspired Turner in his final years, and find out where London's first nude statue is. Explore London's finest country house in Charlton, and unearth the secrets of the Mother of Parliaments. Spy out the village that gave its name to a car and the Russian word for railway station. Discover which church steeple gave us the design of the traditional wedding cake, where the sandwich was invented, and where in Bond Street you can see London's oldest artefact. Visit the house where Handel and Jimi Hendrix both lived. Climb the famous 311 steps of the Monument, go from East to West and back again at Greenwich and fly the world's biggest big wheel.
Brimming with facts, stories and snippets providing a spellbinding insight into the history of London, this beautiful listen is guaranteed to inform and amuse in equal measure.
Christopher Winn's first book was the best-selling I Never Knew That About England. A freelance writer and collector of trivia for over 20 years, he has worked with Terry Wogan and Jonathan Ross and sets quiz questions for television as well as for the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph.
He is also the associate producer of a TV series by ITV on Great Britain, airing in 2014. His website is http://www.i-never-knew-that.com.
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sean O'Skea
- 08-21-16
I never cared to know that about London.
I Never Knew That About London by Christopher Winn is well read by Timothy Bentinck and is a mildly diverting listen for those interested in London’s long history. It is organized by neighborhood and can be hard to follow especially in the audio version without the benefit of page layout clues.
It is basically a long list of random facts about London locations organized only by their rough proximity. The information can be extremely esoteric. Along the lines of, “On this street lived Terry Dunno the drummer for an early 60s band you’ve never heard of, as well as John Whosit the green-grocer credited with introducing the avocado to London in 1912. Both houses were demolished in 1970.”
Christopher Winn frequently references the locations for film shoots, but they tend to be rather obvious such as, “Notting Hill drew international attention as the setting for the 1999 movie, Notting Hill.” Or so obscure you will wonder why he included them such as his several references to locations for the 2003 film Johnny English.
I could imagine a Londoner picking up this book at the library and learning a few interesting facts about their neighborhood to share at the pub but it’s far too trivial for anyone interested in an actual history. On Audible try London a Short History of the Greatest City in the World from the Great Courses or A. N. Wilsons’ very brief but compelling London A History. For the tourist looking for greater depth of understanding the excellent Rough Guide to London (not on Audible) gives historical context, points out hidden oddities and obscure sites, as well as giving you the practical information you need to visit the city. This guide book is written with more context and humor than Mr Winn manages.
I Never Knew That About London is entertaining and in a scattered way, informative, but it feels more like sitting down and reading the questions and answers off Trivial Pursuit cards than anything you will remember once its ten hours are over.
1 person found this helpful
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- Joanna C. Hinga
- 11-22-15
Boring
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
Disjointed and generally dull. If I hadn't been born in london, this book would not make me want to visit the place.
1 person found this helpful
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- F. Short
- 08-20-19
Too much information
I love London, history and trivia so I couldn't wait to listen to this book. I'm afraid I lasted about half an hour. There is so much information, with all measurements being given in imperial and metric, all people and events being followed by start and finish/birth and death dates and facts following each other with very little break or structure in between. I felt like reading a close-spaced wall of text but with my ears. I might buy it as a physical book if I see it on offer as I think it probably works better in that format, but I certainly won't bother with this audio book again.
26 people found this helpful
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- Alan Coady
- 03-02-18
Every few seconds...
This is a gem of a book. Seeing the taxi icon, I initially worried that it might be mere pub quiz fodder. However, it's a virtual tour of the city, along the river. There really are fascinating facts every few seconds. Apart from historical events and people there are many fascinating explanations of place names and the origins of popular expressions e.g. at sixes and sevens - no spoilers here.
So frequent were the temptations to rewind that I decided to buy the Kindle version of the book so that I could keep listening and do any 'reference work' later using Kindle's search facility.
To borrow Ian McEwan's phrase, there were so many 'detonations of cognition' that I imagine I'll revisit this book again, either in Audible or Kindle format, but more likely both. I look forward to exploring Christopher Winn's other books.
Timothy Bentinck does a fine job of narrating.
19 people found this helpful
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- Susan Ordish
- 02-07-17
Interesting
Interesting - especially if you know London. The reader has a pleasant, clear voice. A slight irritation is that measurements are given in both imperial and metric units: "the arch is x feet (y metres) wide,"etc, over and over again. At least Scotland Yard is not referred to as "Scotland 89.3 centimetres"!
16 people found this helpful
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- Alex
- 10-20-15
Informative good book
Great and interesting facts about London, but very fast paced and a lot to take in. That said a fascinating insight.
10 people found this helpful
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- Ali
- 12-06-15
Needs reorganisation
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Needs some reorganising the 'path' followed seemed try random and a lot of the book just felt like a list of Wikipedia trivia.
Would you recommend I Never Knew That About London to your friends? Why or why not?
Maybe for a quick history/trivia fest about London it is enjoyable for the most part
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
He is a little flat but serviceable
Do you think I Never Knew That About London needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
Not a bat Idea, or at least an updated volume as building come and go, there were a few tings that are already outdated and this is a new book!
Any additional comments?
It feels rather like a stream of consciousness and list at times often not telling more about interesting stories other then to tell you that they happened
9 people found this helpful
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- Gail Wood
- 07-02-19
great facts just a little dry
great facts but it feels like the phone book is being read to you. more like a catalogue of facts. The narrator cannot help the way it has been written and does the best he can with what he has got.
8 people found this helpful
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- Alan Golding
- 06-22-17
Interesting but have a map of London with you
Generally meet expectations but certain facts were repeated, almost verbatim, which made me think I had repeated a chapter.
8 people found this helpful
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- Paul (the other one)
- 05-30-19
You need to have some background knowledge
You really need to be familiar with London to enjoy this book properly -- the narrator moves fast, and as such you're thrown all over the city at an alarming rate. I live within spitting distance of Tower Bridge and even I found this difficult to follow in places.
So, unless you've done the knowledge, don't try to listen to this book when driving, running or walking as you will probably end up lost.
Personally I'd suggest you have a map at the ready so you can follow the author's journey and remind yourself of the various locations as you absorb a whole heap of interesting facts and figures.
Edit: I have started to notice some minor historical inaccuracies -- not enough to spoil the book, but be careful what you believe.
6 people found this helpful
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- Pamela
- 06-26-16
Lots of facts, but no narrative
Any additional comments?
The facts presented were quite interesting in themselves. However hours of them, with nothing much linking them the than a geographical area, got quite tedious. The constant reciting of measurements in imperial and metric was especially grating.
5 people found this helpful
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- M. R. Frost
- 02-17-18
What a lot you don't know about London.
So informative. Well written and very well read. This will increase your enjoyment, next time you visit London.
4 people found this helpful
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- Eddie
- 12-04-16
Delightful literary visit to London
If you could sum up I Never Knew That About London in three words, what would they be?
Quirky and delightful stories about one of the biggest cities in the modern world. Great for someone who has visited London a few times and can relate to some of facts about the city and wants to reminisce.
2 people found this helpful
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Great Book
- By Joann on 01-04-21
By: Peter Ackroyd
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I Never Knew That About Royal Britain
- By: Christopher Winn
- Narrated by: Tim Bentinck
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Best-selling author Christopher Winn explores Britain's royal past, unearthing a rich legacy of castles and palaces, cathedrals and country retreats, battlefields and monuments where kings and queens lived and died. In this exploration of royal British history, discover whose heart is buried near the Tower of London, which palace was built on top of a mulberry garden, the world's oldest and largest occupied castle, and the first building in Britain to have latrines.
By: Christopher Winn
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The American Civil War
- By: Gary W. Gallagher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary W. Gallagher
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Between 1861 and 1865, the clash of the greatest armies the Western hemisphere had ever seen turned small towns, little-known streams, and obscure meadows in the American countryside into names we will always remember. In those great battles, those streams ran red with blood-and the United States was truly born.
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Excellent Series
- By Rodney on 07-09-13
By: Gary W. Gallagher, and others
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Icons of England
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, Barnaby Edwards, Ben Eagle, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This celebration of the English countryside does not only focus on the rolling green landscapes and magnificent monuments that set England apart from the rest of the world. Many of the contributors bring their own special touch, presenting a refreshingly eclectic variety of personal icons, from pub signs to seaside piers, from cattle grids to canal boats, and from village cricket to nimbies.
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Think twice if you're expecting a Bryson book...
- By Aaron J. Harris on 12-14-20
By: Bill Bryson
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A Short History of London
- The Creation of a World Capital
- By: Simon Jenkins
- Narrated by: Anthony Howell
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
London: a settlement founded by the Romans, occupied by the Saxons, conquered by the Danes and ruled by the Normans. This unremarkable place - not even included in the Domesday Book - became a medieval maze of alleys and courtyards, later to be chequered with grand estates of Georgian splendour. It swelled with industry and became the centre of the largest empire in history. And rising from the rubble of the Blitz, it is now one of the greatest cities in the world.
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Great general overview of London
- By Atlas Orphan on 01-10-20
By: Simon Jenkins
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London
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 49 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Here is Edward Rutherfurd's classic novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning 2,000 years. He brings this vibrant city's long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and intrigues of half-a-dozen families, from the age of Julius Caesar to the 20th century. Generation after generation, these families embody the passion, struggle, wealth, and verve of the greatest city in the world.
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Absolutely Fabulous!
- By Angelyn S. Furst on 03-04-18
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London
- The Biography
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 32 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
London: The Biography is the pinnacle of Peter Ackroyd's brilliant obsession with the eponymous city. In this unusual and engaging work, Ackroyd brings the listener through time into the city whose institutions and idiosyncrasies have permeated much of his works of fiction and nonfiction. Peter Ackroyd sees London as a living, breathing organism, with its own laws of growth and change.
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Great Book
- By Joann on 01-04-21
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
I Never Knew That About Royal Britain
- By: Christopher Winn
- Narrated by: Tim Bentinck
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Christopher Winn explores Britain's royal past, unearthing a rich legacy of castles and palaces, cathedrals and country retreats, battlefields and monuments where kings and queens lived and died. In this exploration of royal British history, discover whose heart is buried near the Tower of London, which palace was built on top of a mulberry garden, the world's oldest and largest occupied castle, and the first building in Britain to have latrines.
By: Christopher Winn
-
The American Civil War
- By: Gary W. Gallagher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary W. Gallagher
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between 1861 and 1865, the clash of the greatest armies the Western hemisphere had ever seen turned small towns, little-known streams, and obscure meadows in the American countryside into names we will always remember. In those great battles, those streams ran red with blood-and the United States was truly born.
-
-
Excellent Series
- By Rodney on 07-09-13
By: Gary W. Gallagher, and others
-
Icons of England
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, Barnaby Edwards, Ben Eagle, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This celebration of the English countryside does not only focus on the rolling green landscapes and magnificent monuments that set England apart from the rest of the world. Many of the contributors bring their own special touch, presenting a refreshingly eclectic variety of personal icons, from pub signs to seaside piers, from cattle grids to canal boats, and from village cricket to nimbies.
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Think twice if you're expecting a Bryson book...
- By Aaron J. Harris on 12-14-20
By: Bill Bryson
Related to this topic
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Broadway
- A History of New York City in Thirteen Miles
- By: Fran Leadon
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Broadway takes us on a mile-by-mile journey that traces the gradual evolution of the 17th century's Brede Wegh, a muddy cow path in a backwater Dutch settlement, to the 20th century's Great White Way. We learn why one side of the street was once considered more fashionable than the other; witness construction of the Ansonia Apartments, Trinity Church, and the Flatiron Building and the burning of P. T. Barnum's American Museum; and discover that Columbia University was built on the site of an insane asylum.
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Give My Regards To Broadway!
- By Steven on 08-20-18
By: Fran Leadon
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City
- A Guidebook for the Urban Age
- By: P. D. Smith
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
For the first time in the history of our planet, more than half the population - 3.3 billion people - is now living in cities. City is the ultimate guidebook to our urban centers - the signature unit of human civilization. With erudite prose, this unique work of metatourism explores what cities are and how they work. It covers history, customs and language, districts, transport, money, work, shops and markets, and tourist sites, creating a fantastically detailed portrait of the city through history and into the future.
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Commuters companion
- By Anna on 05-19-13
By: P. D. Smith
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Paris, Paris
- Journey into the City of Light
- By: David Downie
- Narrated by: Max Winter
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Swapping his native San Francisco for the City of Light, travel writer David Downie arrived in Paris in 1986 on a one-way ticket, his head full of romantic notions. Curiosity and the legs of a cross-country runner propelled him daily from an unheated, seventh-floor walk-up garret near the Champs-Élysées to the old Montmartre haunts of the doomed painter Modigliani, the tombs of Père-Lachaise cemetery, the luxuriant alleys of the Luxembourg Gardens, and the aristocratic Île Saint-Louis midstream in the Seine.
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Great preparation for a trip to Paris
- By LRB on 07-11-14
By: David Downie
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Why the Dutch Are Different
- A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands
- By: Ben Coates
- Narrated by: Ciaran Saward
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A personal portrait of a fascinating people, a sideways history, and an entertaining travelogue, Why the Dutch Are Different is the story of an Englishman who went Dutch. And loved it.
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Good Start, Then He Goes Dark
- By amazonnance on 12-17-21
By: Ben Coates
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The Seine
- The River That Made Paris
- By: Elaine Sciolino
- Narrated by: Elaine Sciolino
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Elaine Sciolino came to Paris as a young foreign correspondent and was seduced by a river. In The Seine, she tells the story of that river from its source on a remote plateau of Burgundy to the wide estuary where its waters meet the sea, and the cities, tributaries, islands, ports, and bridges in between.
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Disappointed
- By Nom de Guerre on 08-06-21
By: Elaine Sciolino