THE PHOENIX
St Paul's Cathedral and the Men Who Made Modern London

The Phoenix is a sweeping narrative that combines science, architecture, philosophy and politics with all the colour and character of Restoration England. It tells the extraordinary story of the men and their ideas that transformed seventeenth-century London into the first modern city.

1666: The Great Fire of London destroyed swathes of a city already crippled by a savage civil war, plague and drought. Nothing escaped the flames, from the warehouses that lined the Thames to the old and neglected cathedral that loomed silently above: St Paul's.

'London was,' wrote one diarist, 'but is no more.'

Yet within a generation London emerged as the greatest city in Europe, surpassing even Paris, the vainglorious capital of the Sun King, Louis XIV. The Phoenix tells the story of London's extraordinary resurgence and the lives of the five men who raised the city from the ashes: John Evelyn, diarist and gardener; Robert Hooke, scientist and architect; John Locke, the philosopher and economist; and, most significantly of all, the architect of St Paul's Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren.

Through genius, luck and determination, each of these forward-thinking men left his imprint upon the modernised capital - some in unexpected ways.  They transformed seventeenth-century London into the world's first modern city, complete with its iconic cathedral, St Paul's: a monument to an age of extraordinary transformation and to the men who brought it back to life.  The London we know today is a result of the myriad advances made by these five men, each of whom left his mark not only on London, but also on the world.

ILLUSTRATED

Leo Hollis was educated at Stonyhurst College and read history as UEA.  He has written previously on London and Paris, and works in publishing. He lives with his wife and children in London.

'The Phoenix is 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.'
Ross King, author of Brunelleschi's Dome and The Judgement of Paris

'A wonderfully rich and informative book.  To present deep scholarship so accessibly and with such fluency is a rare achievement.'
Tom Holland, author of Rubicon and Persian Fire

'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.'
Liza Picard, author of Restoration London