This course examines London’s history through the work of writers who have lived in London, who have written about the city, or who have used London as the background or setting for their work. As well as secondary literature on the city’s development, there will be a range of primary texts from John Stow to Monica Ali. By the end of the term, students will have a good knowledge of London’s history, an appreciation of the works of a number of important writers, a sense of different historical periods, and a knowledge of the variety of locations that go to make up the textual map of London.

This was a Year 2/3 10-class course I taught at Goldsmiths for a couple of years. Below are lecture slides and seminar handouts. I used to play music from the time before each class – the links on the first page are to those recordings.