Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub
Open City is launching a new book to coincide with the 2021 Open House Festival celebrating over 100 London pubs. Support the crowdfunder to pre-order your hardback copy.
To coincide with the 2021 Open House Festival, Open City is publishing a new book telling the story of London through its pubs. Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub is now available to pre-order in hardback at an earlybird price as part of a special crowdfunding campaign. Help bring this landmark publication to life by supporting the crowdfunder and championing London’s pubs who have been hit hard by the pandemic.
About the book
For centuries, the London pub has been a place of social fermentation where all manner of people have come to drink, think, share stories and company. Surviving plagues, bombs, fires and floods, they have borne witness to wakes, weddings and the writing of world-changing manifestos. London’s pubs have provided the social and architectural infrastructure for civic life to thrive with a remarkably varied mix of spaces for meeting, making up, breaking up and cultural conviviality. From opulent former Gin Palaces and Taverns to Micropubs and community-owned pubs, the story of London’s more than 3,500 pubs tells the story of the city itself.This book will celebrate the incredible diversity, design and stories of London’s public houses as we are at last able to enjoy them again. Tracing the development of the pub as an enduring institution through societal upheavals the book will connect changes in pubs with wider social and political movements; filled with original drawings, photography and archive material.
Including contributions from: Jennifer Lucy Allan, Nana Biamah-Ofosu, Jessica Boak and Ray Bailey, Clare Cumberlidge, Ruth Ewan, Paul Flynn, Laura C. Forster, Orit Gat, Phineas Harper, Rupa Huq MP, Jonathan Moses, Daniel Rosbottom, Bernd Schmutz, Neal Shasore, Bob Stanley, Timothy Smith, Eleanor Suess, Isy Suttie, Jonathan Taylor, Luke Turner, Lily Waite and Jaega Wise, and with a preface by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
About the contributors
Edited by Cristina Monteiro and David Knight and with chapters by designers, historians, activists, and brewers, the book will explore the architectural and social history of London’s public houses told through the stories of specific pubs across all of London’s 33 boroughs. The book is conceived as a conversation, with many voices telling tales of pubs across London, and through them teasing out important themes including architecture, craft, music, LGBTQ+ history, comedy, migration and intangible cultural heritage.
Comprising 15 core chapters each written by different contributors exploring a particular pub and the issues and ideas its story raises. Interspersed are shorter texts written by the editors, covering over 100 pubs across the city's past and present, weaving a tapestry of the pub's complex and diverse role in the life of London, from 1388 to 2021.
Design and production
Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-9160169-2-7
240mm x 170mm x 20mm
240 pages
Edited by David Knight and Cristina Monteiro
Designed by Studio Christopher Victor
Published by Open City
Open City Friends
Open City Friends donating £10 or more a month to the charity receive all Open City books including Public House for free as soon as they are published. Sign up here to help support all of Open City's work and get this book for free along with other perks.