Publishing & Media
Find books, newspapers, TV shows and films that have captured London, or were made here, with our related objects, stories and blogs.
Blogs-And-Stories

Librarian’s pick: Queer history books to read
Four books on LGBTQ+ history from the museum’s library that you should read, if you haven’t already

Who was Charles Dickens?
19th-century London’s most celebrated writer gave us Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol

The London life of William Shakespeare
The work of this celebrated English playwright has strong roots in the capital

Henry Grant photographed London from every angle
Countless London stories in black and white

Through the lens of Charlie Phillips
One of the most talented, but long overlooked, photographers of 20th-century Britain

How to ‘judge’ a book owner by their bookplate
We don’t really judge, but we can definitely get to know a lot about a book’s owner by their customised bookplate

Mary Seacole: Doctress of the Crimean War
The determined businesswoman and caregiver who looked after troops at war

Poetry, plagiarism & treason: Early years of The Gentleman’s Magazine
Find out more about the home of England’s first ‘magazine’

The history of the BBC
The world-famous BBC made its first radio broadcast from London over 100 years ago

Olaudah Equiano: Writer & abolitionist
A freed enslaved man whose life story drove the abolition of the British trade in enslaved Africans

The life story of Mary Prince
A vital narrative of enslavement that boosted the abolitionist movement

Charles Dickens’ ‘Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi’
The Victorian author charts the turbulent life of a beloved London clown

A caricaturist takes on the Great Exhibition, 1851
George Cruikshank’s satirical sketches shine a light on the craze caused by this London event

Zadie Smith: Writing north-west London
The author of White Teeth and The Fraud uses Brent as her canvas

Malorie Blackman’s books shaped Britain’s youth
The south-east Londoner writes diverse fictional worlds for young people of all ages