A fictionalized survey of the history of London, interweaving the events of two thousand years with the adventures of six families whose succeeding generations lived in the city from the time it was a Celtic encampment through its emergence as England's preeminent metropolis.

"Why does [the] rainy, cold, gray city [of London] capture so many imaginations? Could its very unreliability hold the key to its longevity? The detectives are joined by their boss Raymond Land and some of their most disreputable friends, each an argumentative and unreliable expert in their own dodgy field. Each character gives us a short tour of odd buildings, odder characters, lost venues, forgotten disasters, confusing routes, dubious gossip, illicit...