The West End of London has long been a magnet to those attracted by impressive architecture and grand streets and squares. This detailed book delves deep into its eight distinctive areas, to present the stories behind the façades of buildings old and new, taking the reader down side streets into corners that even Londoners tend to miss to reveal who lived where, and how a whole new London developed to the west of the Roman-walled medieval city to evolve into the gilded 'west end'.

Following a path around Mayfair, St James's, Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury, Soho, Covent Garden and Strand, Westminster and Whitehall and Belgravia, this book presents a multitude of historic locations, from the well-known such as the Palace of Westminster, Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards, Somerset House, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, the Royal Opera House, or Marble Arch, to the vastly lesser-known. This easy-to-read guide offers an intriguing insight, street by street, into the beating heart of London.