West End Chronicles 300 Years of Glamour and Excess in the Heart of London

From Mayfair to Soho, Shaftescury Avenue to Fitzrovia, the west end has always been the glittering heart of London's social life, lit by cosy cafes, brothels, drinking dens and music venues. But these bright lights have also hidden a world of violence and immorality, a wold familiar to Aleister Crowley and the Mafia. Ed Glinert looks at the glorious triumphs of West End life - from Rothschild's zebra-drawn coach bringing Piccadilly to a standstill, to the Dorchester's luxurious World War Two bomb shelters, as well as its dark core, concealing nineteenth-century cocaine addicts, murder and vice - each combining to show the famous hub of London in an entirely new way.