If Rome is the 'Eternal City' and Paris is the 'City of Light', then what is London? Almost two thousand years old, London is a city of vibrant contrasts, simultaneously ancient and modern, progressive and stolid, grand and shoddy, and the product of constant reinvention. Now, at the start of a new millennium, London is booming. Reaching out over 620 square miles, it remains at the forefront of cultural, financial and commercial developments and offers an important centre of intellectual life and scientific enquiry, all the while maintaining a prominent position on the political world stage.

Terence Conran on London is an unashamedly personal view of a city in which he has spent much of his adult life and invested most of his creative and commercial enterprise.After conveying his own passion for London,Terence explores different facets of the city -London at Home;Transport;Work; Shopping; Eating and Drinking;Time Out; and Green London. Each section ruminates on life in the city, exploring the face shown to tourists as well as the hidden haunts known only to a few.Terence's own fascination with London is ever present, from his view of the faltering transport system to the award-winning new stations on the Jubilee line. He discusses the successful mix of architectural heritage and new developments around Tower Bridge and the recent invigoration of the city's cultural life through the opening of destinations such the Tate Modern at Bankside and the 'London Eye' in Lambeth. Specially photographed features document the everyday life of certain parts of the city- from the daily routines atThe Great Eastern Hotel or Billingsgate Market, to the night-time revelry at Madame Jo Jo's nightclub in Soho.

Terence Conran combines the old and the new, the established and the ground-breaking, the familiar and the unexpected, in a refreshingly personal perspective of the heritage and the evolving identity of a city that constantly surprises and inspires him and which he, along with several million others, calls home.

MAYOR'S FOREWORD

MY LONDON

LONDON AT HOME

TRANSPORT

WORK

SHOPPING

EATING AND DRINKING

GREEN LONDON

TIME OUT

Favourite Haunts

Index

Acknowledgements