Palaces and Gardens of Persia Book

No description I read about this book on the back cover really prepared me for the topic. It's more than a biography of notable historic figures, and far more than a history of the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral. London Rising tells the story of London's transformation from medieval town to mercantile city through the crucible of war, pestilence, and fire. It is a social, political, and scientific history of seventeenth-century England. Leo Hollis' book is a masterful blend of intriguing personalities (Charles II, John Locke, Robert Hooke, and - of course - Christopher Wren)and the fascinating events and ideas that launched the Enlightenment.

If you enjoy history told through the prism of monumental construction along the lines of Ross King's Brunelleschi's Dome, this book is for you! It also reminded me of Edward Donick's history of the mechanistic worldview championed by the Royal Society, The Clockwork Universe, although London Rising deals mostly with the decades leading up to Newton.

The only reason this is a 4-star rather than a 5-star review is because not enough background is provided in the beginning regarding the origins of the Civil War and a a few chapters near the end focus on the cathedral's final stages of construction and are slightly tedious.