London is a city of markets: markets in meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, money, insurance, shipping and, occasionally, in stolen goods. As both a major port and the nation`s capital, it was almost inevitable that commerce became the bedrock on which the city has risen to be one of the world`s greatest modern marketplaces. Many of today`s street names remind the observant pedestrian of the commercial centres that were to be found in them in times past: Bread Street, Milk Street and Ironmonger Lane; London`s market history is all around us. Stephen Halliday`s book is a comprehensive account of the long, lurid and often controversial history of London`s markets, from Roman Londinium to the London of Boris Johnson, as well as a guide to visiting them (and emerging with a bargain). He explores the historic markets still in existence, and the sites of those that no longer exist, and recounts the fascinating stories of the famous, not-so-famous and sometimes infamous Londoners who have populated them, both as buyers and sellers, through the ages.