The London Bible: A Guide to Living and Working in the Capital (Travel)

Paperback - October, 2003 - Interlink Publishing Group
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By: Katherine Harlow, Katya Holloway, Katherine Harlow and Katya Holloway
ISBN: 1566565243

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Reviews by readers

Very useful

I'd recommend this book to anyone who's going to London or the UK to work. I went over on a Working Holiday Visa with no idea of where I wanted to live or how to even start looking for work, but when I found this book, it made life heaps easier. The guide is written by two young writers in a really witty, funny style.

It helped me find a job as a secretary in the city and an apartment living with a couple of cool English girls, so if you're planning on moving to London to experience the culture or lifestyle, this is a great book. They have a huge section on nightlife as well as all the practical info like looking for a job, paying tax, the price of transport and all that necessary info. Highly recommended.

This book really helped me to find my feet in London!

I arrived in London six months ago and to say that I was overwhelmed at first was an understatement. Luckily, during my first week at a hostel in Earls Court, a fellow novice to London recommended The London Bible to me. This guide seemed to be aimed directly at me, at 26 year old who wanted to settle in London and really make the most of my time here.
I had purchased one of the usual backpacker guides before arriving, but what I really needed was information on settling in London, not just passing through.
The London Bible begins with THE BASICS, chapters that concisely and clearly explain all you need to know about 1) ACCOMMODATION (how letting agencies work, types of properties, postcode areas, council tax, bills, bond etc...) 2) RECRUITMENT AND MONEY (jobs, agencies, C.V.s, salaries, tax, how to open a bank account etc...) 3) TRANSPORT (how to navigate the tube!, fares, travelcards, buses, taxis etc...) 4) HEALTH (how to sign up with a doctor, how the NHS works, prescriptions, dentists etc...) 5) EDUCATION (universities, colleges, financial support, overseas students, language schools etc...) 6) COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA (getting a telephone & cell phone, newspapers, TV and the dreaded TV license etc...) 7) SHOPPING (where, what, sizes, budget shopping, cheap haircuts etc...) and then a few chapters on some other basics. I was very, very pleased with these sections as I just wanted to know easily how to do things. It's tough arriving in London - you have no idea where to start just to get a doctor. But this book says in plain and simple terms exactly what you should do. About a third of the book is devoted to all of this, yet it isn't rambling. Just a bit of background and then what to do to sort yourself out. Perfect. Exactly what I needed.

The second section of the book is...ENTERTAINMENT! Arriving in London was daunting - with so many clubs, bars, and places to go out I had no idea where to start at first. Luckily the book told me about the best clubs to try, where to go to see bands/theatre/galleries/soccer etc... I'm enamored with all the history of London. Now I know where to go to drink in Charles Dickens' favourite pub (and where his favourite seat was!), I know which underground club has seen Muddy Waters, the Rolling Stones, the Sex Pistols, and the White Stripes all grace the stage and now hosts all manner of up-and-coming bands.

The third section of the book, AREAS, was extremely helpful when I started looking for somewhere to live after the youth hostel. London is massive. Looking at the listings for flatshares I had no idea what was a good or bad area and the book was very helpful with this. It gives an overview of the major areas and describes the differences (ie. Hoxton is trendy and bohemian, the City is dead at the weekends, and Hampstead is posh and leafy). Reading through the Areas chapters I was able to decide which neighborhoods I wanted to live in and then center my flatshare searches to those places. The added bonus of having the best pubs, bars, and restaurants per area was great.

This book really helped me to settle in easily, move to a cool flatshare in a neighborhood that I love, get a job in the media thanks to the agency listing, and to discover some fantastic bars and clubs.
I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone trying to settle into London.

Definitely worthless for a family planning to relocate

As noted by some of the other reviewers, this book is not geared for anyone with a family who's planning to relocate to London, but instead for the 20-something, single, partying crowd.

For instance, the Education chapter concentrates on college or continuing education for adults, without nary a mention on schools for children. Likewise, the neighbourhood descriptions don't even try to mention what they are like for families, instead concentrating in describing their restaurants, pubs and other nightlife options.

Several of the neighbourhoods are described as "expensive" or "posh", and the authors don't shy in saying that "you probably will not afford to live there". Why then waste valuable book space on them??? They should instead have concentrated on describing those areas where normal people (i.e. non-millionaires) will actually end up living!!!

It seems like this book is geared for those looking to have a "Sex In The City" lifestyle. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I found its title to be deceiving. After all, when you dare to call your book a "Bible" to something you should go to great lenghts to make sure it is as inclusive as possible. I definitely found it to be a waste of money; as a matter of fact, this was the first book I purchased at Amazon that I ever felt compelled to return (and I've purchased over 200 books here).

For those adults who are planning a move to London (married or not, with children or childless) I recommend "Living and Working in Britain, Fifth Edition : A Survival Handbook", by David Hampshire. It is full of information that actually helps in planning such a move and allows you to know how to settle in London or anywhere else in Britain.

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