The Phoenix, Leo Hollis
The Phoenix, Leo Hollis
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The Phoenix
St. Paul's Cathedral And The Men Who Made Modern London

Author: Leo Hollis

Narrator: John Hopkins

Unabridged: 14 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/22/2021

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

'A tour de force of biography, history, politics, philosophy and experimental science' ECONOMIST

The remarkable and inspiring story of how London was transformed after the Great Fire of 1666 into the most powerful city in the world, and the men who were responsible for that achievement.

'Wonderfully rich and informative ... a rare achievement' Tom Holland

'Fascinating' Lucy Moore

'An ingenious and fluent overview of extraordinary men at an extraordinary moment, with St Paul's standing as its symbolic heart' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Opening in the 1640s, as the city was gripped in tumult leading up to the English Civil War, THE PHOENIX charts the lives and works of five extraordinary men, who would grow up in the chaos of a world turned upside down: the architect, Sir Christopher Wren; gardener and virtuosi, John Evelyn; the scientist, Robert Hooke; the radical philosopher, John Locke and the builder, Nicholas Barbon.

At the heart of the story is the rebuilding of London's iconic cathedral, St Paul's. Interweaving science, architecture, history and philosophy, THE PHOENIX tells the story of the formation of the first modern city.

About Leo Hollis

Leo Hollis was educated at Stonyhurst College and read history at UEA. He is the author of books on London and Paris, and works in publishing. He lives with his wife and children in London.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Tracey on January 14, 2013

Well-researched and absorbing - if so densely written it's hard to read a lot at one time - this book looks at London in the 1660s-1700s, encompassing the Plague & Great Fire. Superficially, it's about St Paul's, but in fact examines the far broader background to the rebuilding. Will make you want t......more

Goodreads review by Sof on February 08, 2020

A brilliant read and backstory of how this incredible masterpiece was built.......more

Goodreads review by Anne on May 22, 2023

My knowledge of the Stuart monarchy and the civil war is rather limited and I found this a fascinating insight into the society and politics of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century, told through the careers of five prominent men and with the destruction and reconstruction of St Paul's cathed......more

Goodreads review by Steve on August 04, 2013

The life stories of the main characters, Wren, Hooke, etc were interesting, but the quotes and references weighed the book down for me. I was more interested in the development of London at the time - after the Great Fire - than the politics and social stuff behind it all. Although there were a few......more

Goodreads review by Andrea on December 29, 2008

A thorough view of London becoming a city and views of the men who shaped the city. The wavering storyline is sometimes distracting-shifts from Wren to Locke, to James II randomly. The organization could be better. Yet, it covers everything. But in covering everything it surely tires the reader. At......more

Quotes

What makes this book so fascinating, though, is not just the rich detail, but also its explanations of the emergence of the new thinking that so profoundly shaped the spirit of the age INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

His book is a tour de force of biography, history, politics, philosophy and experimental science ECONOMIST

A wonderfully rich and informative book. To present deep scholarship so accessibly and with such fluency is a rare achievement

A fascinating picture of the rebirth of London after the Fire and the men who made it happen, combining the history of ideas, architecture and the life of the city in a riveting narrative

Hollis is a historian with a novelist's eye for dramatic detail, and an infectious affection for both his subject and his five men. THE PHOENIX is an extremely entertaining work of popular history CATHOLIC HERALD

An ingenious and fluent overview of extraordinary men at an extraordinary moment, with St Paul's standing as its symbolic heart SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

This is a superlative book. Leo Hollis has that rare gift of making the complex, such as the nature of light and the complexity of national finance, comprehensible to the most lay of readers, whom he rewards - with no dumbing down - with fascinating details and characters

With Hollis as our knowledgeable guide, we watch as a new, vigorous spirit pervades the City of London... It is this new, enthralling spirit, just as much as Wren's 'puzzle in stone', that is the true subject of Leo Hollis's fine book MAIL ON SUNDAY

In this fascinating, richly detailed account of how St Paul's rose from London's ashes after the Great Fire, Leo Hollis unravels what he calls this "puzzle in stone" to describe not just the new cathedral and its design and construction but also the complex politics, science and philosophy of the day and the ambitions of the extraordinary men who created the first truly modern city

A truly inspiring story of human ingenuity and persistence in the face of disaster - and of how the future can be built out of the rubble of the past. On top of all that, it's hard to imagine a better introduction to the politics and culture of this glorious period in English history

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