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The two villages of Great and Little Stanmore, which now form one of London’s northernmost suburbs, nestled amid woods and farmland until their development between the wars. This fascinating history traces their medieval and Tudor past, and the great houses such as Chandos that dominated them in the Georgian era.

With four walking tours and illustrated chapters on plague pits, lost burial grounds, historic graveyards, hidden cemeteries and Jewish burial grounds, Robert Bard looks at where and how London buried its dead.

London’s financial district is also its ancient core, the city founded by the Romans and bounded by its medieval walls. From Boudicca to the Blitz, its history is one of devastation and renewal. This compelling account records its fortunes and misfortunes, its highlife and lowlife, and the merchants, politicians, hucksters and hacks who have shaped it.

From Sir Thomas More’s mansion built around 1520 to the artists’ studios and pubs and clubs of the 19th century, Barbara Denny traces the places, events and personalities of Chelsea’s colourful history.

The Stock Exchange began in a London coffee house, as did Lloyds; fish and chips was invented in Victorian London; and Fortnum and Mason supplied Florence Nightingale in the Crimea and Parry's expedition to find the North-West Passage as well as innumerable aristocratic picnics. This history of London's food is full of such milestones and outstanding personalities, described in chapters on how London has been provisioned, its markets, shops and restaurants, foreign imports and the eating habits of Londoners.

A significant settlement since Saxon times, Kingston was the county town of Surrey until amalgamation into Greater London. It played a significant role in the Second World War as the location of Eisenhower's command headquarters as well as the site of the Hawker Aircraft factory.

The residence of William III began the fashion for Kensington as a place to live, and the Great Exhibition of 1851, and subsequent building of museums, further defined the character of the area, attracting smart residents to grand houses and later to mansion flats. Slightly off-mint.

There was little development in the area now known as Camden Town before 1791, but it quickly grew and – thanks to the railways – soon became polluted and overpopulated. Recent times have seen redevelopment while the popularity of the market has made it a tourist attraction.

The Grand Union Canal, the Great West Road and the railway made Hayes an attractive location for major companies, but for many years the working population was brought in by train and somewhat overwhelmed the town, which was still surrounded by green fields into the 1930s. Adapted from the author's Hayes: A Concise History (1988).

The development of Finchley and Whetstone is inextricably linked to the creation in the 13th century of a new road north out of London from Highgate to Barnet. Turnpikes, inns and livery stables were the Great North Road's early trade, and the connection of the area to Central London by train later encouraged expansion as a residential suburb.

Featuring more than 200 illustrations, this book tells the stories behind the squares, streets, plaques and statues at the historic heart of two of London's most colourful and creative communities. There is murder, music and medicine; food, fashion and film; art, architecture and actors; and among the poets and publishing tales, we discover where OscarWilde entertained, Dickens dined and Dylan Thomas drank.

Researching the history of a house can be fascinating, but it is not always straightforward, especially in London where the maze of sources is complex. Written by an expert on London's built environment, this book provides a systematic guide to the available archives, including title deeds, local government records, rates and taxes, fire insurance and probate. Extensively illustrated with photographs and maps, it includes a brief history of London housing, and three case studies.

Protected from the expansion of London by the creation of the Green Belt, Elstree and Boreham Wood have retained much of their rural charm. This extensively illustrated local history charts their development from prehistoric times to the present, and describes their many surviving historic buildings. Individual chapters are devoted to parish churches, old pubs, local crimes and law enforcement, and the area's celebrated film studios.