London step by step [antikvár]

IntroductionI am a manic tourist. When I visit a city I want to see everything that there is to be seen. I want to know each location's history, what is special about its exterior and what is special about its interior. I want to be able to find all these special features without difficulty and I want to learn about them precisely as I reach them. I don't want to get lost and I don't want to go round in circles. When I get to my destination I want to know what else there is of interest nearby and exactly how to get to it.A personal, qualified guide could help me achieve these aims but he, or she, would certainly charge me a considerable amount of money and, in any case, I prefer not to spend every day with a total stranger, however congenial. So I, like most tourists, have had to resort to guide books.Although many of them are beautifully produced and entertainingly written, most appear to be intended either to whet the reader's appetite or to serve as an attractive souvenir. None has proved to be of more than limited use to me when I have been standing in a street in Paris, Cairo or Bangkok wondering where to go next.London Step by Step is a completely new concept in guide books. It treats the visitor to London as someone who, without precise guidance, will get lost and confused. The city is divided into more than six hundred locations which are fully described and linked to form twenty-one itineraries. Each itinerary can be broken into, or left, as desired. Starting and finishing at an Underground station, the visitor is led, literally step by step, around the exterior and, when permitted, the interior of each location. Every major point of interest is referred to precisely as it is reached and directions are then given for walking to the next location.In other words, London Step by Step aims to match, as closely as possible, the services of a personal, knowledgeable guide. It has been written as much for the Londoner who believes he knows London like the back of his hand as for the tourist who is overwhelmed by the size and diversity of this vast city.Christopher Turner