Mary Lloyd reviews A People's History of London by Lindsey German and John Rees, Verso (London 2012). Pbk. 310 pages. £12.99.
In just 300 pages, the authors survey fascinating details of the key events in London's history, from its foundation by the Romans to the Occupy protest outside St. Paul's, in the heart of the City. Rees and German credit their colleagues in the Stop the War Coalition for critical commentaries on the first drafts and for contributions from their own personal research. Tariq Ali is honoured as the original instigator of the idea. Ken Loach himself confers a blessing with a front cover comment: 'The history of London we have been waiting for, told with elegance and precision.'
Certainly, this is history with a difference: from the first accounts of the Roman settlements which became Londinium, we are fascinated by the quays, industries and shipping which constituted the port that formed the basis of London's prosperity through ensuing centuries. There is no mention of Caesar: just the names and numbers of the legions which established the military supply base. The account of Boudicca's defeat and the Roman reconstruction of London links its perimeter and features to the landmarks we still recognise today – reminding us that the Romans' London Wall marked the City limits until the start of the 18th century, from Tower to the Fleet, near Blackfriars.
Despite the decline and desertion of the Roman city upon the arrival of farming communities of Angles and Saxons, Bede describes Lundenwic, the 'metropolis of the East Saxons' as an 'emporium' for international merchants by 730 AD. From the start, London's trading and manufacturing interests balanced the power of the king, with London enjoying virtually European Commune status in the 12th century, granted by Stephen in his struggle with Matilda.
The driving idea informing the narrative is the centuries-long struggle towards democracy, in which the capital's teeming population, with rich and poor in close proximity, drew provincial protestors in like a magnet, from the Peasants' Revolt to the First International of the 19th Century. In the early stages, this mainly consisted of opposition to the Crown's controls over the City of London. There were power struggles between the craft organisations, the guilds, and the early organisation of the city into wards, which elected the aldermen, whilst the 'London mob' was always ready to oppose any royal attempts to infringe their freedom. The leaders of such rural risings as the Peasants' Revolt knew that they had to win the support of London if they were to make any deal with the king. At the same time, John Wycliffe gained the backing of the mayor and the aldermen in his struggle against the power of the Roman Church and the religious houses, which paid nothing towards the City's upkeep, despite owning two thirds of the rents. Some thirty years later Jack Cade, following Wat Tyler's route, demanded that the King should recognise the law of the land. The 16th century Reformation is viewed by the authors as helping 'to complete London's transformation from a feudal to an early modern capital'.
London's radicalism triumphed at the time of the English Revolution of the 1640s, after initial struggles with counter-revolutionaries. By this time, the old walled city remained the core, but it was spilling into eastern suburbs along the river, westward development of the Strand and Covent Garden, and the rapidly developing centre of Westminster. Ordinary citizens played an active part in framing the Commonwealth republic, as the technique of mass petitioning supported by mass demonstrations became accepted practice – despite the horror expressed by Royalist statesmen that 'a multitude' presumed 'to teach a Parliament what, and what is not, the government, according to God's word.' Thomas Hobbes is quoted: 'But for the city the Parliament never could have made the war, nor the Rump ever have murdered the King.'
These radical traditions and practices formed a fertile ground for the political struggles of later centuries, culminating in Trade Union organisation and the slow establishment of democracy through a series of Reform Acts spanning nearly 100 years. It was no accident that Marx and Engels chose London as the natural setting to develop their ideas. As a Londoner by upbringing, I treasure this 'history with a difference'.
Mary Lloyd is a retired London teacher and former Vice-Chair of SOF. Now she lives in Southampton and is a Labour Councillor on Southampton City Council.