The following are some of the books we recommend (follow the links to find them at Amazon)…

• For a great guidebook, you can’t go past Eyewitness Travel’s London (published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd, London, 2010, rrp £14.99)

• The Globetrotter Walking Guides are also a great resource. They include: Walking London: Thirty Original Walks In And Around London (Andrew Duncan, New Holland Publishers, London, 2010, rrp £10.99), Walking Notorious London (Andrew Duncan, New Holland Publishers, London, 2004, rrp £10.99); and Walks Along The Thames Path (Ron Emmons, New Holland Publishers, London, 2011, rrp £9.99).

• A look into some of London’s nooks and crannies: Secret London: An Unusual Guide (Rachel Howard, Jonglez Publishing, Versailles, 2011, rrp £10.99).

• For self-guided walks, see the City Walks: London cards (50 short walks, each on a single card which fits in your pocket) (Written by Christina Henry de Tessan, published by Chronicle Books, San Francisco, revised edition 2011)

• For a very detailed book on London’s literary history, see London: City of Words (David Caddy and Westrow Cooper, edited by Michael Ellis, published by Blue Island Publishing, London, 2006, rrp £13.99).

• A look at some of the quirkier aspects of life in London: London Lore: The Legends and Traditions of the World’s Most Vibrant City (Steve Roud, Random House Books, London, 2008).

• A glimpse into London’s dark underbelly (caution, only for the bold): City of Sin: London and Its Vices (Catharine Arnold, Simon & Schuster, London, 2010).

• An interesting and lively at a part of Isaac Newton’s life in London that usually gets overlooked – his time at the Royal Mint: Newton and the Counterfeiter (Thomas Levenson, Faber and Faber, London, 2009).