Friday, January 9, 2015

A review of Roger Dean's Esoteric London

Esoteric London is such a fun read! Roger Dean has taken his blog posts, his photographs, and with some fitting nineteenth century quotes has created a wonderful guidebook for the adventurer seeking the different aspects of London. 

Let Roger take you through the city of London as he sees it literally and visually with such creative flair you will feel as if you are on a walking tour with the author himself!

I have been to London twice over the years and have done the American tourist thing stopping by in a rushed cattle-like manner the usual sites i.e. the churches, the museums, etc. If you take your copy of, 'Esoteric London' with you, well, get ready for a humorous, smart cracking good time! 

Roger's photographs are beautiful, close-ups of stained glass church windows, cherub statues, lamp posts, the sights and sounds of the hidden and not so hidden sides of London as only Roger Dean can show them.

Every post is witty and concise in his own words ended by a Victorian quotation from a London long ago. His use of photographs juxtaposed against modern and old descriptions of a London we thought we knew made me look at my favorite spots in London with fresh eyes! His early post about St. James Park, for instance, brought back a wonderful memory of my very first trip in London. I haven't thought about my walk through St. James Park in so long and have always related the park with Henry VIIIth, so reading, 'Esoteric London' I saw it again through a different lens. Thank you Roger Dean for opening my eyes to your London. What a magical experience reading, 'Esoteric London' is. I hope everyone will pick up a copy for themselves and enjoy seeing it for the first time or the hundredth time! It's London mate! It never gets old :)

Thank you Roger for sending me a review copy. Next time I get back to London, Esoteric London is coming with me! 


To buy the book and to find out more information about him,  Esoteric London

2 comments:

Hels said...

I lived in the UK for two years and have been back as a visitor every second year since, funds allowing. But there are unpublicised gems that only an insider knows. My current post is a perfect example. Michelin House is a decorator's delight that I had never heard of .. until a fellow blogger got me onto it.

Thanks for the reference to the blog and to the book. Blogging is a fine source of new information.

Kimberly Eve said...

I completely agree with you, Hels about those hidden gems! Thanks for taking time to read, comment and for those blog posts!

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