London: The Photographic Atlas - Hardcover

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Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007184352 ISBN 13: 9780007184354

Publisher: Collins, 2004

Synopsis

The widely-acclaimed ‘LONDON: The Photographic Atlas’ has now got even better. With higher-resolution images and superscale coverage of important tourist sites, Greater London is now revealed from the air in unparalleled clarity and unsurpassed depth.

The first edition of ‘LONDON: The Photographic Atlas’ combined stunning aerial photography with world-class cartography to create an unbeatable image of one of the world’s greatest cities. Now, with central London completely re-flown at a higher scale, the city is presented with breathtaking sharpness. If you live in Greater London, you will be able to find your house and perhaps even your car and explore new neighbourhoods with a clarity and immediacy that will astonish you.

But the second edition of this best-selling book goes even further. An all-new 16 page superscale section swoops even closer into major landmarks than has ever been possible before. Magnificent London sights and buildings, such as Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey are presented in a level of close-up coverage that is simply outstanding in its detail.

The London which the Photographic Atlas portrays is a living, changing mosaic. This new edition of the Photographic Atlas incorporates all the principal changes in the urban landscape since the last edition, showing the demolition of Wembley Stadium, all the changes in Docklands, and providing a visual catalogue of buildings which have sprung up, parks which have disappeared and much-loved vistas which have opened up or disappeared for ever.

For Londoners and those who love the city, LONDON: the Photographic Atlas is a book of unique importance and stature.

About this title

Review:

Getmapping.com came up with a beautifully simple idea in 1998: photograph the whole of the UK from the air to create a kind of modern Doomsday Book. Then they and HarperCollins realised that the London part of the survey would give a unique view of one of the world's most famous cities, and so this book was born. It really is unbelievably simple, and of interest to any lover of London who also enjoys maps and photographs. Getmapping.com flew a plane at 5,500 feet taking photos automatically, then digitised the photos so they could be colour-corrected and adjusted to allow for variations in light, weather, contours and the plane's flight. The result is a homogenous set of photographs of the whole city, with a conventional street atlas stuck on the back. Every street in London is indexed to both the photographic and the cartographic atlas, so you should be able to find any place you want quickly and easily.

A word about the scale of the photos, particularly about what the potential reader can expect to see clearly: in order to make the size of the book manageable, the scale increases as you move out from the centre. There are 74 pages of central London (Regent's Park to the South Bank, and Earls Court to Whitechapel) at 1:3000, 112 of inner London (Richmond to the Isle of Dogs, Highgate to Dulwich) at 1:6000, 96 of outer London at 1:12000, and 40 pages of cartography covering the whole of London at 1: 24000. In central London the roofs of individual houses can be picked out easily; in inner London they are still discernible, though not so clearly; by the time you get to outer London it's more a question of finding a street. --David Pickering

Review:

'Drop heavy hints to Santa about London: The Photographic Atlas ... a sublime book ... an amazing labour of love' The Guardian

'Warning – don't buy this book! You will spend hours and hours, if not days and weeks, poring over its amazing detail. For lovers of London it is a must' Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

'A fascinating book ... it contains all the passion of a great city ... fun for all the family' Rowan Moore, Evening Standard

'Absolutely brilliant' Chris Tarrant, Capital Radio

About this edition

• Publisher: Collins
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0007184352
• ISBN 13: 9780007184354
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416