and I have since lent it to another friend who I know will also enjoy it, while yesterday, with the first Christmas card of the year, was a note saying that on my recommendation, left on the phone, it had been bought for another friend for Christmas. It's on sale locally at Bookseller Crow in Crystal Palace, and also at Alexandra Nurseries. I've also met the author - thanks to Bovinejuice - who explains that, as a matter of principle, he likes to support local businesses rather than Amazon.
So what's so good about it? Well, it is available on Amazon, and there is what one of the reviewers there wrote
The "framework of ideas" is actually a straight forward Marxist account of 19th century economic and social development, which is very effective in making sense of what would otherwise be "one damn fact after another", and the subtitle for the book - "Capital comes to Penge" is a nice Marxist joke.Martin Spence has achieved something amazing, a local history that doesn't rely on anecdote and sentimentality. Stylish and readable, the book places the growth of this 'ordinary little place' firmly in the extraordinary history of London as the world's great city. There is a framework of ideas here and they are fascinating. The focus on Penge is nailed by the linked histories of transport: the Croydon canal and the railways, the century long battle to enclose Penge Common and the vast enterprise of the Crystal Palace. The book's orignal,the research is fresh and it's a gripping read. Read it. It could just change local history as we've known it. And that can't be bad.
Another time and place I might go into why I don't accept some of this approach, but not now.
I recommend it to anyone - and it reads well too.
When first living in Sydenham (Ponge era, 1970s and no car then) we were delighted to find that Ponge was almost on our doorstep (a short bus ride away). Of course, neither did it have a Tourist Board at the time... Does it say, or anyone know, if it's mentioned in the Domesday Book?