London Over The Years

Portrait of a city: From Victorian sergeants to the New Romantics, the fascinating pictures that chart the changing face of London

As English author Samuel Johnson once said: 'By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show.'

It is a view captured gloriously in a new book which charts the history of the capital from the 19th century to the present day in a series of iconic images.

Constantly evolving, yet always unmistakeably London, the pictures take the reader on a journey through the capital's changing landscapes from the taverns of the Victorian era to the Houses of Parliament, the psychedelia of The Beatles to the new romanticism of the 80s and beyond.

They feature in London: Portrait Of A City, published by Taschen, which describes the book as a tribute to the 'bulldog spirit of the people that have stayed constant' throughout that time. 

Here is a selection of photographs that appear in the fascinating book.

Dapper chaps: This picture of recruiting sergeants outside the Mitre & Dove in King Street, London, in 1877 features in a new book charting the history of London from the Victorian era to the present day

Iconic symbol of London: The official opening of Tower Bridge on June 30, 1894 at a ceremony led by the then Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, and his wife, The Princess of Wales

Evocative: A woman cuts a solitary figure in the middle of Trafalgar Square at night in a photograph taken in 1910

Hustle and bustle: A trader on a horse and trap outside Long Acre in Covent Garden circa 1930. The publishers say the new book, London: Portrait Of A City, is a tribute to the 'bulldog spirit' of the capital's inhabitants

The white stuff: A milk bar in Bear Street, central London c.1936. Milk bars grew in popularity during the 1930s, when public health became an important social issue, as they sold exotic milk-based drinks for adults

Bright futures on the horizon: Nannies looking after their charges beside the Serpentine in Hyde Park in 1938

Power structure: A man looks across the River Thames towards Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War

Letting off steam: Crowds flock to Battersea Funfair, which was opened in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain, a national exhibition held give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of the war

Psychedelic: The Beatles' Apple store on the corner of Paddington Street and Baker Street in 1967. The shop was one of the first business ventures made by the band's fledgling Apple Corps

Bobby on the job: A policeman directs traffic near St St Paul's Cathedral in front of an inconic London Routemaster bus in the 1960s

Trading stories: The Punch Tavern on Fleet Street in 1969, a classic hang-out for journalists whether it be in between editions or at the end of the working week

Dollybird days: Actress Charlotte Rampling in circa 1967 before she shot to fame in Luchino Visconti's 1969 film The Damned

Time for a shift half? Gentlemen congregate outside the Good Mixer pub in Camden Town in 1971

New Romantics: A girl poses up against the iconic image of the London Tube map in 1981