London stories
Explore the stories of the world's greatest city and uncover the hidden treasures of our collections.
All stories

The animals of London Zoo in the 1950s
Photographer Henry Grant takes us on a tour of these Regent’s Park residents

The toilet photos that saved gay men on trial
Fighting the prosecution of gay encounters in the 1980s and 1990s

The comic operas of Gilbert & Sullivan
The writer-composer pair behind the hottest shows in Victorian London

Katharine Hamnett shaped the style of the 1980s
Oversized silhouettes, worn-in denim, political slogans – Hamnett’s designs drove a new London look

Norman Hartnell: Couturier to queens & stars
The south Londoner who brought a theatrical flair to high-end fashion design

London’s stars of the stage & screen
The actors, singers, dancers and entertainers who’ve taken the city by storm

The Forty Elephants: South London’s supreme shoplifters
How an all-women clan of career criminals hounded West End department stores

Alvin Langdon Coburn’s ethereal photographs of London
A foggy, shadowy view of the capital in 1909

Occupy London: Looking back at the 2011 protests
In the wake of the global financial crisis, anti-capitalist protesters set up a camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral

Portraits of London’s close-knit queer club scenes
Liz Johnson Artur captured community, individuality and joy on and around the dance floor

The Huguenots in London
These French refugees worked silk in Spitalfields and silver in Soho, weaving a lasting legacy

Fast food & feasts: Where did Tudor Londoners eat out?
Meat pies, alehouse snacks and boiled sheep’s feet sold on the streets

Inside St Paul’s Cathedral
Tiptoe through these tranquil photographs from the early 1900s


Photographing London after dark
When the sun set, Alan Delaney took out his camera, capturing a ghostly city marked by shadow

Who was publicly executed in London?
Thirteen tales of the cooks, rebels, bankers and king who died in front of a watching crowd

Malorie Blackman’s books shaped Britain’s youth
The south-east Londoner writes diverse fictional worlds for young people of all ages

Zadie Smith: Writing north-west London
The author of White Teeth and The Fraud uses Brent as her canvas