London; a pilgrimage - Gustave Dore & Blanchard Jerrold

This portrait of London in the late 1860s really captures the flavour of the capital at its riotous peak. Portrait is the right word, too, as it is Dore's masterful illustrations that conjure up the extremes of poverty and wealth as well as the sheer industriousness of the place. Jerrold's rather syrupy prose is less exciting, but the depiction of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race as an event enjoyed by Londoners of every class was something of an eye-opener.