The first time I visited London was in 2011 when I spent a semester studying at Goldsmiths, University of London. I fell in love instantly.

During my time at Goldsmiths I took a London history course and in one of the first classes we were shown the 1940 propaganda film “London Can Take It!” The video is narrated by American war correspondent Quentin Reynolds and was intended to sway US public opinion in favor of the war.

“London Can Take It!” shows Londoners preparing for a night sheltering underground from German airstrikes, and how they pick themselves up the next day. The city's in ruins. A woman opens her front door, dusts debris off the steps, and brings in her milk delivery. It’s the very embodiment of “keep calm and carry on.”

I have a different opinion of this video now than I did when I first watched it ten years ago. I don’t like how it frames ordinary people as soldiers. Civilians forced to sacrifice themselves, to keep calm and carry on, for someone else’s battle. That’s an inevitability of war, I suppose.

Yet there is a reason I remember this film when I think about why I am drawn to London and its history. It was the first time I thought about how much London has endured. For over a millennia it has been burned, bombed, and rebuilt. You only need to take a short walk basically anywhere in London to see and feel its history. The streets are practically yelling, “Look! Something happened here! Please do not forget!” Blue plaques on buildings tell us of the notable people and events that left a mark on London’s history.

Digging for London’s newly opened Crossrail (aka the Elizabeth line) began over ten years ago. Excavations for the tunneling system were vast, and it ended up being one of the UK’s most extensive archaeology projects. Skeletons of plague and execution victims, the remains of an old Tudor home, animal bones, Victorian chamber pots, and fragments from a boat dating from the 12th to 15th century were among the findings. One archaeologist recalled uncovering bones in a densely populated street, with tourists and Londoners alike oblivious to what was happening around them. London’s secrets and the stories of its people are ready to be found, if only we are willing to look.

In his book, London: The Biography, Peter Ackroyd writes, “The levels of the centuries are all compact, revealing the historical density of London. Yet the ancient city and the modern city literally lie beside each other; one cannot be imagined without the other. That is one of the secrets of the city’s power.”

It can be jarring to travel through some of the older areas of London and see ancient stone adjacent to funny-looking glass skyscrapers with nicknames like the Gherkin, the Walkie-Talkie, and the Cheesegrater. But to me that is part of London’s charm. Somehow, in London, it works.

This won’t be a comprehensive, or a chronological, history of London, rather a place for me to share what I’ve learned about the city I love so much. The era of London’s history that interests me most, and the one I know most about, is the Stuart period, which spans 1603-1714 and includes the English Civil War, the Great Plague, and the Great Fire. A number of societal and cultural institutions, like fire insurance, coffee houses, and the London Stock Exchange, were born either during or as a direct result of this period. The Stuart period will be my focus, but I’m also keen on exploring the Georgian (1714-1837) and Victorian (1837-1901) eras. 

Additionally, I have decided to organize this blog in sections based on the four major elements: earth, fire, water, and air. There may be bits I want to share that don’t fit nicely into one of those categories, but I’ll add them regardless. There are no rules here! The title of this blog comes from a plate found in a London sewer. “You & I are Earth 1661” is written on the plate in blue calligraphy and reminds us that everything, in the end, belongs to the Earth. The plate was made from earth, and one day, too, you and I will return to the Earth.

A note: The City (capital C) of London is the district that encompasses one square mile north of the River Thames. This is the area that was first settled by the Romans during the first century CE, and the wall surrounding the City marked its boundaries until the Middle Ages.

London has grown far past those boundary lines, though the City is still a designated district within Greater London. Today the City is known for being one of London’s financial districts, and the home of the Bank of England.

Any mentions of “the City” refer to the City of London, not Greater London as a whole.