Lost London in Colour

A remarkable and unique archive. Over 250 rare colour photographs of London with authoritative captions.

This fascinating compilation of early London photographs takes us on a tour of one of the world's greatest cities, but rather than picturing the historic scenes dating back to the 1850s in the traditional sepia and black and white monochrome, new realism is given here by reproducing the images in full colour. We can therefore explore not only some of London's world renowned landmarks but also less frequently pictured aspects of the capital including its street characters, local markets, shops, theatres and early cinema, and the historic River Thames by whose banks London began as a Roman town nearly 2000 years ago.

There is also a look at some of the local neighbourhoods where Londoners live, and at the city's transport as horse and steam traction gives way to electricity and the internal combustion engine.

Great exhibitions and royal events are featured as are wartime photographs recalling the inferno of the blitz in the 1940s, while a further sequence recalls London's old docklands.

Principally sourced from ancient albums and private collections, London Colour Archive unites a wealth of rare and unpublished images to reveal that the London of a century and more ago was as colourful and vibrant a city as it is in the present day.