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Mudlark: In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames Audiobook
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Publisher Description
A quixotic journey through London’s past, Mudlark plumbs the banks of the Thames to reveal the stories hidden behind the archaeological remnants of an ancient city.
Long heralded as a city treasure herself, expert “mudlarker” Lara Maiklem is uniquely trained in the art of seeking. Tirelessly trekking across miles of the Thames’ muddy shores, where others only see the detritus of city life, Maiklem unearths evidence of England’s captivating, if sometimes murky, history―with some objects dating back to 43 AD, when London was but an outpost of the Roman Empire.
From medieval mail worn by warriors on English battlefields to nineteenth-century glass marbles mass-produced for the nation’s first soda bottles, Maiklem deduces the historical significance of these artifacts with the quirky enthusiasm and sharp-sightedness of a twenty-first-century Sherlock Holmes.
Seamlessly interweaving reflections from her own life with meditations on the art of wandering, Maiklem ultimately delivers―for Anglophiles and history lovers alike―a memorable treatise on the objects we leave in our wake and the stories they can reveal if only we take a moment to look.
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“Mudlark‘s magical appeal is enhanced by narrator Xanthe Elbrick, whose charming British voice is instructive, inviting, and companionable…[to] bring the history of these objects alive for listeners…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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"[An] engrossing front-line report.”
— Wall Street Journal -
“Unexpectedly compelling.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune -
“This engrossing memoir evokes the subculture of the ‘mudlarks,’ who scour the banks for fragments of London’s past…entry points into the history of the river and its environs.”
— New Yorker -
“Maiklem’s storytelling shines when it’s focused tightly on her finds.”
— The Telegraph (London) -
“This thoroughly fascinating look at treasure hunting along the banks of the Thames also serves as an astute history lesson.”
— Publishers Weekly [starred review] -
“The sense of discovery, of finding forgotten objects, is captured superbly.”
— Library Journal
Awards
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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The Bookseller (UK) Editor's Choice of the Month
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A BBC Pick of the Week
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An Apple Best Book of the Month Pick
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About Lara Maiklem
Lara Maiklem is a British editor who has been mudlarking for more than a decade and who has been featured in the London Guardian and by the BBC for her work as the “London Mudlark.” She lives on the Kent coast, close to the Thames estuary, and visits the river as regularly as the tides permit.