Dr Johnson wrote: ‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life;for there is in London all that life can afford’. In this course, we shall look at the life of London from its foundation to the present day: its trades, industries, docks and rivers; its theatres, music halls and other entertainments; the creation of the suburbs and the role of the railways. We will also hear the voices of London’s inhabitants, past and present, through their writings, songs, street cries and Cockney speech.