This is a very enjoyable book. The pictures were well done and the history of the places was interesting. The pictures were both beautiful and sad. I liked that the book mentions if a building was repurposed and how.

I recieved an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

London is a fabulous iconic city, bursting at the seams with so much to see. And this includes derelict and decrepit buildings, buildings full of stories and wonders. Often when I see ruined buildings I wonder what they are like inside, who lived or worked there. Because they ALL have a history and secrets. One of my favourite things in life to do is explore such buildings. People often walk by them without knowing what lies beyond and behind. What can look ordinary on the outside can be extraordinary on the inside. I like to try to open doors and peek inside if allowed. This book really appeals to my sense of adventure!

Learn about the 1723 characterful building which is intentionally kept derelict for filming, gorgeous Abbey Mills Pumping Station, Thames Ironworks, flour mills (love the photo of the spiral slides!), Royal Gunpowder Mills (had no idea this existed) and subterranean treasures such as Camden Horse Tunnel. One of my favourite pictures in the book is of Dunstan-in-the-East Church. Then there are hospitals, penny toilets, cold storage, markets, tanners, soup kitchens and public baths such as Haggerston Public Baths with pretty architectural details as well as the beautifully-constructed Crystal Palace Subway and Carnegie Library. I learned about pattress plates and Phoenix columns. Particularly intriguing was to see photographs of Dollis Hill House which I just read about in another book!

Some of these buildings are re-purposed as shops and flats but many are left as they are with weeds and trees growing through them. I am all for rejuvenation but also love the history of originals.

You needn't know London to enjoy this book. And if you do know it, you will definitely discover new things. The photography is enchanting, evocative and thought provoking.

My sincere thank you to Amber Books Ltd. and NetGalley for the privilege of reading the e-ARC of this magnificent book about priceless abandoned treasures which abound in historic London!

4 stars

This book is so well done! Carefully curated photographs accompanied by thoroughly researched text give an intimate look at the history of various London neighborhoods through the visual stories told by graffiti art, historic architecture, old store fronts, churches, pubs, hospitals, train cars, sewers, underground stations, wharfs, public baths, & more. I learned so much from this book, which exudes a love for the city & an appreciation for the people & communities who have lived among the places documented here.

[What I liked:]

•I really appreciate the tone of this book. Sometimes urban decay photography is a bit sensationalized as creepy or haunted. I really like the inclusion of sites that are cute, elegant, grand, industrial, and homey as well. The vision of the book is more a celebration of these places & their history, not an attempt to sell spookiness.

•The photos capture both the grand scale of architecture & close details. Some shots include the street, landscape, or other environmental aspects to really give a full feeling for the locations. Some are really interesting & unique, with fancy brickwork, scrollwork, tiles, windows, etc.

•There is a good variety of places included, from soccer stadiums to the inside of sewers. The book is organized in sections by type of site (transportation, retail, residential, etc.) so you can compare within categories. There is also a nice spread of architecture styles & eras, mainly from the 17th C. early 20th C.

•I’m impressed by & really appreciate the research that went into this book. I learned tidbits about city planning, residents, local businesses & industries, transportation routes & development, the culture of different neighborhoods over the centuries.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•I wish there were citations/notes for the historical research at the end of the book.

•This is a random idea I thought of while reading, but it would be cool if the book came with an appendix of addresses/locations (perhaps a Google Earth map with geolocation pins?) of the sites documented in the book. I know some of the sites have been torn down since, but as someone who’s never been to London it would be cool to be able to easily place the sites on a map & visualize them that way. Or for locals, it would be handy for those who’d like to visit some of the sites themselves.

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

A great book that made me discovered new to me places and gave me a great way to visualise place I read about in books.
Great pictures, an excellent book.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is a coffee table book and a lot is lost by reading/looking at it on an ereader. Wignall has been taking pictures of abandoned factories, buildings and underground structures for many years. Most of the photos are in color but some need to be black and white if you want to see the sharpness of shadows and destruction. Many of the structures have small blurb histories along with the photos.

What I found most lacking was the 'tourist' style of many of the photos in that they only showed the outside of buildings that showed a boarded up store (like a pub) but ended up looking like something down the corner in any small town in the Midwest. Just because it's old and dusty doesn't make a worthwhile photo. As an example, two of the photos showed only the ground floor and a painted door. These looked like the building I lived in the Bronx in the 1980s. So what.

Very few of the buildings had impressive stonework above the main entrance or lobby, so that they looked like the beginning of some 1940s Noir movie. I could take you down the Grand Concourse in the Bronx and show you apartment building that have beautiful late 1890s townhouses or early Art Deco style entries.

For me the bottom line is that nothing here is that impressive but is more like a wander down memory lane in an area that was never that interesting to begin with.

This book explores as the title says... many abandoned places in London but I feel it’s much more than that. This book allows you to walk through the history of London through brilliant photography and captions. I really enjoyed this book and seeing all the ‘secret’ or lesser known places in London as well as those places that are hidden in plain sight but people won’t think twice about them... and yet they have such rich history. It’s interesting to see how London has developed over the years and the pictures present a sense of history and melancholy. I didn’t realise there was so many abandoned places! I loved the history aspect, especially in terms of war torn Britain and Victorian England. I am still gutted that I can never see The Great Exhibition but some of these picture create such a story. Really enjoyed this one and would recommend, I am not a fan of city life but loved how this book focused on history, the idea of ‘progress’ and development. Plus the changing nature of society.

What a fascinating and atmospheric book. The topic is divided into sections such as Sport and Leisure, Transport, public spaces etc. The range means there will be chapters which particularly resonate with each of its readers. This book contains some of the most haunting photographs I have ever seen. From mortuaries to abandoned multimillion properties, unused tube stations to derelict ferries - such a range of subjects are covered with interesting commentaries on their history, place in social history or what they have now become. I would love to visit some of these places when restrictions allow, but in the meantime this book has led me on a unique tour of London.

This book shows a very different London to that of the usual tourist landmarks. Full of wonderful images from derelict old buildings to graffiti walls, historic architecture and forgotten interiors. Many of the places depicted in these images are inaccessible to the public so the reader has a privileged view of places which may have been undisturbed for years. There are some hidden gems amongst the pages of this book and each photograph is an artwork in it’s own right. A delight to view and highly recommended.

The Beautiful and The Blight

As someone who visited London a few decades ago, I found this book of photographs of various abandoned locations in that city fascinating. The author breaks the locations into topics like industry, transport, shops, restaurants, and residential property. Some photographs are almost ethereal, with London's ubiquitous fog nearly stealing the show occasionally. Most, though, just starkly show the abandoned location, sometimes with multiple photographs across several pages. Some of these, especially from earlier centuries, have beautiful aspects—surprising in derelict buildings—or hint at past glory. Some locations are clearly just urban blight that residents no doubt wish to be removed. As these are abandoned buildings and spaces, a fair amount have graffiti. Also, in many, nature is reclaiming the space, with plants trying to overrun the abandoned buildings or objects. The captions teach much about British history and some specific businesses. If you have an interest in London, old buildings, or abandoned spaces, you might find this book filled with photographs of such as interesting as I did.

See London through a new, fresh perspective. I have traveled there before, but never like this. My eyes were opened to sights I would have otherwise missed. I enjoyed the hidden gems that have been disregarded, bypassed and forgotten. Glimpses of history in our modern world come to life. The pictures are vivid and capture the story and tone well. A great resource book to peruse and enjoy. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own, freely given.

It's amazing to me that in such a large vibrant metropolitan as London there can be so many abandoned spaces. I loved seeing the side of the city that isn't normally on view, and experiencing the nostalgia of what was or might have been. The boarded up storefronts were not as surprising to me as were the tube stations and public baths that appeared to be have been used one day and just completely forgotten the next. I appreciated that the pictures were accompanied by captions describing what the buildings had been, why they were abandoned, and what, if anything has been done with them. Unfortunately, I felt like the book started out strong with extraordinarily beautiful examples of old architecture, but by the end of the book, it felt like the author seemed to be relying on closed storefronts to pad the content. While I'm sure there are many boarded up chip shops and stores in London, they were far less interesting than the mansions, tube stations, and mills. I wish there was more of the former and a bit less of the latter -- even if it meant the book just needed to be more pictures of fewer places.

I'm grateful to NetGalley and Amber Books for allowing me to read Abandoned London in return for my honest opinion.

A wonderful pictoral insight into many facets of the capital's decaying built environment, both familiar and less obvious

“It seems bizarre that in a place as crowded, noisy and expensive as London there are still wasted, unused spaces.” The pictures are sad and beautiful. This is definitely not the London in the brochures but it is the raw truth. The pictures are really something else. So much history in these pictures. It really was wonderfully tragic and moving.

I would like to thank the publisher, Amber Books, and the author, Katie Wignall, for kindly providing an electronic copy of this book for review.

"Abandoned London" by Katie Wignall is an artistic, informative, and enjoyable coffee table book. The subtitle, "Discover the hidden secrets of the city in photographs" very accurately describes the book. With 200 pictures of abandoned and derelict buildings, tunnels, and public spaces spanning over 200 pages and over 200 years, reading this book is a veritable trip in time and space. While reading the book, I repeatedly thought that I would love to take a tour of places like this, and after finishing it, I really felt like I had just taken a virtual tour of the hidden side of London. (Just between you and me, I was also pretty happy to learn that there ARE guided tours of the abandoned tube stations. This is now on my list of activities to do once actual international travel is safe again.)

The book is divided into logical categories and includes detailed history and information about each of the locations covered. And many of the pictures are hauntingly beautiful. Anecdotes such as those about as Stompie the Tank, and the fake houses in Leinster Gardens were rather amusing. Reading this book, I learned more about the gritty reality of the history of London, and thoroughly enjoyed being a armchair urban explorer. I really hope that the author publishes more books like this!

A really fascinating and insightful book that transported me back into the history of London.
These photos perfectly captured the beauty and eeriness of these neglected and derelict spaces. Because I don't live in the UK, I really appreciated the little tidbits of history behind different spaces. It's nice to see some of these spaces being commissioned for future use.
I think this is a great coffee table book. I'd definitely consider gifting this to a friend moving to or already living in London.

I fell in love with London in 1972 and the love affair has lasted decades. I was lucky to have lived there for three years and have returned many times in the intervening years. So a book filled with pictures of abandoned and derelict spots sounded fascinating. And it was.

Some of the pictures were sad. Graffiti covered, rusted and rusting, forgotten and unloved. I found the modern ones more like this than the older buildings partly because the newer places tended to be soulless and utilitarian. Where the book shines is in the buildings of VIctorian times with the ornate beauty that graced so much of the architecture of the time. As sad as some of those buildings were, especially the hospitals, they were still evocative. My favourites were the transportation pictures, particularly the underground ones.

I have been fascinated by the history of the Underground and have read about the abandoned stations before. But these pictures tell such a story. As do the shelters were people crammed during WWII. While old factories have tales to tell, they never seem to resonate the way some of the others do.

If you are a history fan of London, this provides a great snapshot of what was and what it has become. Five purrs and two paws up.

An interesting book showcasing the best of london's abandoned buildings and underground tunnels. Makes me wonder how many abandoned areas are in my own city of Melbourne.

An interesting book. Quite industrial in tone with lots of of blocks of flats and pubs featured. Quite minimal in the way of true historic gems which are all at the front of the book. But interesting regardless.

Review to come in May. Review posted on blog/goodreads.

I just had to get this book when I saw it on Netgalley. I love London, and even more so because I visited the city a few years back. Since, due to Brexit I probably won't be visiting any time soon, this book was definitely needed! Plus, I love abandoned buildings, wish I could visit some and make some gorgeous photographs.

In this one we see various abandoned buildings in various themes. From residences to stores to underground. Some of the buildings are still in quite OK condition, some are just falling apart and I wonder how long it will take before things collapse. The pictures were often quite haunting because it seemed at times that someone just up and left instead of taking their things with them. Some buildings had some gorgeous architecture and geometric designs which I just absolutely loved.

I loved the intros to each new theme. While also hard to read I did manage to read them all by getting close to my screen, haha.

The photographs were of good quality. Unlike the Lighthouse book I also just finished, this one's photographs are not grainy, not too blurry, just good. And I am very happy with that.

I have to say I didn't read the text that was on/near some photographs. The font was just too tiny and ADE just doesn't allow one to zoom in, so I couldn't read the text. A shame, as I was curious what was written there.

A collection of photographs of Abandoned London.

I enjoyed seeing inside the old buildings with striking decor; I also liked reading the historical information alongside the photographs.

While I enjoyed some parts but felt that overall it was lacking something.
Not all of the photographs have the same professional quality in regards to composition. There seemed to be too many boarded-up buildings where I would have liked to see more of London's abandoned gems.