Vanishing London, Paul Joseph, Haynes Publishing Ltd, 2011, hardback, 256p, ISBN 978-0-857330-38-3, £25-00.

This book is richly illustrated with a very substantial selection by Paul Joseph of photographs from the Mirrorpix photographic archive. The contents are arranged in themes - public buildings and spaces; trade and industry; entertainment, leisure and sport; youth, culture and fashion; transport; war and destruction; crime and notoriety; campaigns, protests and demonstrations; and significant events.  

As its title suggests, this book explores the way that London has changed and ‘vanished' over the century through which photographic records have been maintained. We can observer what has disappeared and what has been modified; we can see just how much destruction has occurred in war-time, and in peace-time [such as the loss of the Euston Arch in 1961]; and we see how we have spent our time.

Of course, for some of us who were born to be Londoners this is much more personal because it offers us a reminder of our lives. And for some of this it goes much further. Both of my grandfathers were born in London in 1890, sons respectively of a self-employed coachman and the proprietor of a laundry business in Willesden. This means that for people such as me, this book is an exploration of my family's experience and life in London over the last century or so: from these pages springs their story. Paul Joseph enhances the visual story with some very succinct and helpful text which adds to the context provided.

For those interested in the urban and suburban development of Britain over the last century, this is a valuable resource. Its method reminds us that urban change and transformation is slow and subtle and of just how easy it is to lose the memory of what has been lost or replaced.