Enfilade

Published last year by Yale UP, with a paperback edition due in September:

Paul Knox, London: A History of 300 Years in 25 Buildings (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2024), 448 pages, ISBN: 978-0300269208, $35.

A lively new history of London told through twenty-five buildings, from iconic Georgian townhouses to the Shard

A walk along any London street takes you past a wealth of seemingly ordinary buildings: an Edwardian church, modernist postwar council housing, stuccoed Italianate terraces, a Bauhaus-inspired library. But these buildings are not just functional. They are evidence of London’s rich and diverse history and have shaped people’s experiences, identities, and relationships. Paul L. Knox traces the history of London from the Georgian era to the present day through twenty-five surviving buildings. He explores where people lived and worked, from grand Regency squares to Victorian workshops, and highlights the impact of migration, gentrification, and inequality. We see famous buildings, like Harrods and Abbey Road Studios, and everyday places like Rochelle Street School and Thamesmead. Each historical period has introduced new buildings, and old ones have been repurposed. As Knox shows, it is the living history of these buildings that makes up the vibrant, but exceptionally unequal, city of today.

Paul Knox is an expert in the social and architectural history of London. Originally from the UK, he is now University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech. He is the author of Metroburbia: The Anatomy of Greater London; London: Architecture, Building, and Social Change; and Cities and Design.

Coming September from ACC Art Books:

Andrew Jones, with photographs by Laura Hodgson, The London Club: Architecture, Interiors, Art (New York: ACC Art Books, 2025), 288 pages, ISBN: 978-1788843294, $75.

A stunning exploration of London’s most beautiful, interesting, and unusual members’ club architecture and interiors

London has more private members’ clubs than any other city, with new locations opening every year. The UK capital has exclusive clubs for everyone from plutocrats and bishops to jockeys and spies. Written by Andrew Jones, travel writer for the Financial Times and author of The Buildings of Green Park, this large-format picture book is richly illustrated with newly commissioned photographs by Laura Hodgson, covering 300 years of the capital’s architecture and interior design. The London Club: Architecture, Interiors, Art offers a fascinating take on the structures and decorations inside some of the most niche spots in London, giving readers a one-off glimpse into the hidden corners of the city’s social infrastructure.

Andrew Jones has lived in the heart of London clubland, on the border of Mayfair and St James’s, for almost 20 years. He is the author of The Buildings of Green Park, a tour of certain buildings, monuments and other structures in Mayfair and St. James’s, and a contributor to Seeing Things: The Small Wonders of the World according to Writers, Artists, and Others. He writes about cities for the Financial Times, and has also written on architecture for Blueprint, Drawing Matter, and The London Gardener, as well as pieces on London for The World of Interiors and the Londonist.