No city can lay claim to a more dramatic history than London. Engulfed in calamities that seemed to mark its end - fire, plague, riot, civil war, mass bombing - from each crisis it has emerged stronger than ever. Its cultural life, and the long heritage that underpins it, has made London one of the most visited and best-loved places on Earth. It is this extraordinary story that London: The Story of a Great City encapsulates: the rise of the city from a remote outpost of Rome's northern empire; the growth of trade that sent money and ships to every corner of the earth; the roll-call of great Londoners from Shakespeare to Dickens, from Cromwell to Churchill; the strength of its institutions, Parliament prominent among them; the endurance of its people in the face of disaster and war; its innovations in enterprise and pleasure; its dark side in crime and mayhem; and, the positive example it gives the world as a tolerant city in the face of global movements of people. For its lavish illustrations and memorabilia, it will draw on the fabulous resources of the Museum of London, one of the world's great city museums. The Museum's uniquely rich collections will illuminate the whole of London's history through artefacts, documents, maps, paintings and photographs.