London stories
Explore the stories of the world's greatest city and uncover the hidden treasures of our collections.
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John Hargrave: Leader of the Kibbo Kift
Camp out, help others, work for world peace: Hargrave’s youth movement aimed for a better society

Boudica: Rebel queen of the Iceni
London burned when this warrior queen challenged the Romans

How a Neolithic jade axe came to Mortlake
Polished, Italian and left in the Thames

Why Charles I was executed
A tale of religion and Parliament which ends abruptly in 1649

The candid street photography of Margaret Monck
Capturing the energy of 1930s Londoners

Christabel Pankhurst: Suffragette leader
An inspiring leader whose radical tactics intensified women’s fight for the vote

The murder of Thomas Becket
An event that shocked medieval Europe – and a cult that's lasted centuries

Kitty Marion: Actor & Suffragette
Battling for the vote with fire and hunger strikes

How Mary Quant revolutionised 1960s fashion
This champion of super short hemlines influenced how a generation dressed

Millicent Fawcett: Suffragist, not Suffragette
Meet a leader of the law-abiding votes for women campaign

Who was the Suffragette Emily Davison?
After running onto a racecourse, this votes for women campaigner lost her life for the cause

Inside the Big Biba department store
Open for just two years, the 1970s flagship shop for this fashion label was a shopper’s paradise

Princess Diana: A London look
The 'people’s princess' was a 20th-century celebrity whose image was tightly linked to her hometown

The Festival of Britain 1951
A nation-wide event with London at its heart, the Festival aimed to boost Britain’s post-war blues

The history of London's Newgate Prison
London’s longest-running prison was home to high-profile criminals, common thieves and the condemned

Who was Charles Dickens?
19th-century London’s most celebrated writer gave us Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol

Thomas Rowlandson’s satirical London drawings
Laughing at life in the 18th and 19th century