Covent Garden : A People's History

An engaging and original history of Covent Garden and its streets, places and people

An engaging and original history of Covent Garden and its streets, places and peopleCovent Garden began as luxury housing for the elite of seventeenth-century London. Its elegant Palladian terraces marked the first purpose-built square in the capital. But the arrival of a few humble market stalls, and the founding of nearby Drury Lane Theatre, had far-reaching consequences. Tourists, traders and hedonists thronged the piazza. The area soon became a notorious pleasure district, packed with pubs, coffee-houses, gambling dens and brothels. In this insightful account, Lee Jackson charts four hundred years of urban upheaval, decay and renewal, exploring Covent Garden’s long and eventful history. We see the flourishing of the market, the origins of London’s “theatreland”, the opulent Georgian shops that served the aristocracy, as well as the district’s rowdy nightlife, from Restoration taverns to “swinging sixties” nightclubs. This is an intimate portrait of one of London’s most famous districts and its ever-changing inhabitants – a story of the beating heart of the city.