UK > London > Before You Go: London Links, Books and Movies
As with all GSGI links, we only add the ones we like, have used, or think could be useful. These recommended links for expats in London have been recommended by GSGI editors or readers. In some cases, the links take you to a website for which we provided some of the content (so naturally we think it's excellent!).
The books and films have been recommended by our readers and editors. Unless mentioned, most are available at booksellers or on line. If you have a recommendation we should add to this list, we'd love to hear it (contact us).
Useful Links and Information
AngloINFO London- Really excellent resource for expats heading for --or already living in -- London, with valuable no-frills listings of everything from dentists to plumbers, schools (basic info) to hair cuts, registering your car to tax problems as well as classifieds, discussions and details about what's on in your area. Useful directories, reliable information, intuitive site....goes exactly where it says it will, in exactly the country section where you'd expect to find it.
LookSeeCity- Elegantly filmed and thoroughly researched, this smart and wide-ranging online streamed video guide lets you see and hear what life is like in London from the comfort of your computer. Learn about neighbourhoods, accommodation, schools, entertainment and get the inside story from others who've already made the move. The school information was filmed on location at each school, with general educational advice given by GSGI editor Harriet Plyler. Also available for Singapore, Geneva, Hong Kong, Zurich, Dubai and New York.
Special Offer for GSGI subscribers: Click here for promotional code to receive 20% off new LookSeeCity subscriptions.
FOCUS- Easy, thorough website for a completely useful and sympathetic non-profit organisation based in central London. For help finding local information, jobs, advice or a friendly face after a daunting relocation, go directly to their comfortable office off High Street Kensington.
Time Traveler Explorer- A site telling you about possibly THE most amazing app you can buy for your iPad or iPhone. Stand anywhere in London, click on the GPS so the satellite finds you, and then browse over antique maps superimposed over the modern London street grid to see what was there in 1746, 1799, 1830, 1862. Stables? The nuns' convent vegetable garden? A forest? The old London docks? You don't really have to be in London at all to see the maps, or old prints and photographs, or to listen to the pear-shaped BBC tones of Blue Badge guide Sue Mayne giving mini tours for various sites as you click on them. if you don't already have the i-equipment to see it, this app will make you rewrite your birthday list.
More links for London...
http://www.timeout.com/london/
http://www.londontown.com/
http://londonist.com/
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
http://www.run-riot.com/
http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1194/101-things-to-do-in-london
Books
Living in London (published by The Junior League of London) £17.00 - Indispensable Bible for anyone planning to move to London, and then everafter while in the UK. Gives crucial info on what to bring or not (US light bulbs will explode in UK lamps;anything with a motor will whirr itself into smoke in UK 220 outlets), customs, clubs, health care, nurseries, babysitting, florists, nannies, shopping, theatre box office numbers, you name it....it's hard to imagine anything you'll need that this handy book will not provide. To buy it, contact the Junior League of London or call +44 (0)20 7499 8159.
A Guide to Settling in the UK (published by FOCUS) £15.00 - another book chock-full of must-have information, succinctly and clearly stated, completely up to date and incredibly helpful: tax advice, how to plan a birthday party, driving info (the dreaded Conjestion Charge) etc. Some overlap with Living in London, but not enough that you shouldn't have both books. To buy this one, contact FOCUS or call +44 (0) 20 7937 9482.
Around London With Kids: 68 Great Things to Do Together - by Eugene Fodor
A Short History of England - by Simon Jenkins
Watching the English - by Kate Fox
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self - by Claire Tomalin
The Diary of Samuel Pepys - by Samuel Pepys (originally published 1660)
The English: A Portrait of a People - by Jeremy Paxman
London: The Biography - by Peter Ackroyd
Any Regency books by Georgette Heyer- she's been called the poor man's Jane Austen; funny, lively, wonderfully written romances for the most part, but one of the best researched fictional series on Regency London (and occasionally Bath or Brighton) you'll find. Some of the best that take place in London are Fredrica, The Grand Sophy, Arabella, Regency Buck and False Colours. If you really fall for her, then read Georgette Heyer's Regency World - by Jennifer Kloester; describes in detail the neighborhoods, clubs, habits, clothes, food, servants, hierarchy, sports, transportation etc of the Regency period in London specifically and England generally.
Brick Lane - by Monica Ali
London Fields - by Martin Amis
Mrs. Dalloway - by Virginia Woolf
Saturday - by Ian McEwan
London: The Biography - by Peter Ackroyd
Bridget Jones's Diary - by Helen Fielding
Films
Station X- Three part television series about Bletchley Park, home of the code breaking activities of the Enigma machine, and the thousands of people working there who kept the secret for the next four decades. Visit Bletchley Park by taking train from London and walking across the road to get there (it was chosen for its location close to London, and midway between Oxford and Cambridge, so that brainy maths - and puzzle workers- from both universities could get there easily).
Enigma- fictional story starring Kate Winslet (made by Mick Jagger, who owns his own Enigma machine), based around Bletchley Park code-breaking activities.
Notting Hill (1999)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
An Education (2008)
Love Actually (2003)
About a Boy (2002)
Bend it Like Beckham (2002)
Somers Town (2008)
Match Point