“It is a wonderfully complete history.... Will probably stand to all time as the brightest and most authoritative book on a period which is bound, by its very evils, to have a fascination for the student of customs and manners, and for the student of national development.”—The Liverpool Post.
“The reader will gather that this is a work which is of the highest importance. Beautifully written, beautifully produced and illustrated, it is in itself a monument to the steady industry and devotion of Sir Walter Besant, one of the best and sweetest influences this latter day has felt. The epitaph which honours Sir Christopher Wren might be inscribed, with a difference, on the title-page of London in the Eighteenth Century, for if we require a monument to Sir Walter Besant we need only look within.”—The Church Times.
“Altogether this posthumous work of the historian of London is one of the most fascinating books which he ever wrote.”—The Municipal Journal.
“The book is engrossing and its manner delightful.”—The Times.
“A work of great value and interest; ...profoundly interesting.”—The Westminster Gazette.
“Of facts and figures such as these this valuable book will be found full to overflowing, and it is calculated, therefore, to interest all kinds of readers, from the student to the dilettante, from the romancer in search of matter to the most voracious student of ‘Tit-Bits.’”—The Athenæum.
“Stimulating, edifying, interesting, horrifying, in turns, the book has not a dull moment.... As it is the best, it will surely prove the most prized and popular of modern books on London.”—Notes and Queries.
“The work is copiously illustrated with reproductions of old prints, and is altogether a delightful and fascinating guide to the Metropolis at an eventful period of its history.”—Pall Mall Gazette.
“Of the present lordly quarto volume it may be said that it fairly represents that ‘Survey’ which Sir Walter Besant conceived, and which he used to refer to as his magnum opus. It is a worthy literary monument to his deep knowledge and love of London.”—The Academy.
“Besant’s interesting and valuable book.”—Manchester Guardian.