No Free Parking: The Curious History of London's Monopoly Streets

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I think based on the cover or the title I expected something more conversational or more colloquial. This is a clever way of publicising the author's worthy and important crusade for London's heritage and against ill-thought planning authority proposals. I did enjoy it, once I adjusted my expectations from 'interesting fun, fact book with history' to 'history book'.

But those Monopoly streets live and breathe – they open up whole new ways of thinking about our history. As the government’s national archive for England, Wales and the United Kingdom, The National Archives hold over 1,000 years of the nation’s records for everyone to discover and use.

No Free Parking starts with a brief introduction to how the London Monopoly streets were most likely chosen, before tackling each street (and utilties and rail) one by one. In a city of rags and riches, where folk hero Dick Whittington believed the streets were paved with gold, anything could happen – and everything has.

Highly entertaining’ – The Times’A hymn book to the London street’ – TLSFrom the Roman marching along the ancient Old Kent Road to the rattling newspaper presses of Fleet Street, from Dickensian iron and fog to the neon lights of the twenty-first century, the game of Monopoly has painted London’s story across cheerful coloured tiles. From the Roman and Celts marching along the ancient Old Kent Road, to the rattling newspaper presses of Fleet Street, the game of Monopoly has painted London’s story across cheerful coloured tiles.I love reading about London and this is an engaging and fresh way to do so (especially if like me you were brought up in the Old Kent Road).

If you're a fan of Peter Ackroyd books or want to know more about London streets, then you may enjoy this. Informatively, lucidly and entertainingly written, the book takes you through the ups and downs of their history and demonstrates why we should all be concerned for the future of streets, in London and elsewhere.From the Roman and Celts marching along the ancient Old Kent Road, to the rattling newspaper presses of Fleet Street, the game of Monopoly has painted London's story across cheerful coloured tiles. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.