{"product_id":"9781861057990_the-london-companion","title":"The London Companion","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf you think that London is the greatest city in the world but could do with some evidence to back you up, this is the book you need. Within these pages are hundreds of facts, figures, stories, quotes, jokes and extraordinary anecdotes about London from its earliest times, right up to the present day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhose head fell off London Bridge into his daughter’s lap?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow do you make Big Ben gain two-fifths of a second?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWho sold Buckingham Palace to an American tourist?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhich London citizens are allowed to herd a flock of sheep over London Bridge?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy did John Etherington’s top hat get him arrested in Mayfair in 1797?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhich Londoner embalmed his wife and displayed her in a glass cabinet in his front room?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat does Tony Blair mean in Cockney rhyming slang?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd how many policemen can you fit in Nelson’s Column?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you think that London is the greatest city in the world but could do with some evidence to back you up, this is the book you need. Within these pages are hundreds of facts, figures, stories, quotes, jokes and extraordinary anecdotes about London from its earliest times, when hippos swam up the Thames and elephants lived in Trafalgar Square, right up to the present day. You will learn essential information such as who took a binbag full of body parts to Shepherd’s Bush by taxi, what goes on at the Horseshoe and Faggott Cutting Ceremony, who was paid £3 a yard to paint the ceiling of the Royal Naval College, and who keeps a Northern Line tube train in his back garden. As the saying goes, ‘There is in London all that life can afford.’ And most of it is in this book.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jo Ed. Swinnerton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46896598188181,"sku":"9781861057990","price":24.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9781861057990.png?v=1777422876","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9781861057990_the-london-companion","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}