By permission of heaven: the story of the Great Fire of London

Adrian Tinniswood

Jonathan Cape, Sep 1, 2003 - History - 330 pages

A magnificently told and thrilling account of one of the most dramatic events in British history. Adrian Tinniswood's magnificent new account of the Great Fire of London explores the history of a cataclysm and its consequences, from that first small blaze in a baker's house in Pudding Lane in the early hours of September 2nd, 1666 to the inferno that would devastate the third largest city in the Western world. The statistics are terrible: 436 acres of closely packed streets burned; 13,200 houses destroyed; 10 million lost at a time when 10 million represented the City's annual income for 800 years. But the Great Fire wasn't simply a tragedy of economics or architecture. It wrecked lives and destroyed livelihoods. It killed and maimed, and it drove Londoners mad in their quest for vengeance. By Permission of Heavenpieces together the untold human story of the Fire and its aftermath -- the panic and terror, the bewilderment and violence and chaos, the search for scapegoats, the rebirth of a city. Above all, it provides an unsurpassable recreation of what happened to schoolchildren and servants, courtiers and clergymen when the streets of London ran with fire and "by ye Permission of Heaven, Hell broke loose upon this Protestant City."

What people are saying

Review: By Permission of Heaven

User Review  - Susan Abernethy - Goodreads

This is an excellent book. Read it a few years ago and am re-reading as research for a blog post on the The Great Fire. Really well written.

Review: By Permission of Heaven

User Review  - Avis Black - Goodreads

The author spends too much time on boring side details and not enough on fighting the fire, so the book lacks drama.

Contents

• The Future Condition of the English Nation: 19
• Gods Bellows: 41
• A Universal Conclusion: 58

About the author

Adrian Tinniswood is a historian. He has taught in various British universities, and was for many years consultant to the National Trust on heritage education. He is the author of eleven previous books including, most recently, a biography of Sir Christopher Wren.

Bibliographic information

• Title: By permission of heaven: the story of the Great Fire of London
• Author: Adrian Tinniswood
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Jonathan Cape, 2003
• Original from: the University of Michigan
• Digitized: Jun 16, 2008
• ISBN: 0224062263, 9780224062268
• Length: 330 pages
• Subjects: Great Fire, London, England, 1666; History / Europe / Great Britain; London (England)