Thackeray's London: a description of his haunts and the scenes of his novels

The author guides readers through London locations tied to a celebrated novelist, identifying schools, squares, streets, and houses that inspired scenes and characters while distinguishing the writer's tendency to imply rather than precisely map settings. Chapters combine local description, biographical detail, and literary excerpts to show how real haunts—most notably a historic school foundation—recur across novels and generations of characters. The narrative contrasts this restrained topography with a more pictorially descriptive contemporary, explains why some names were disguised, and traces how personal memory and urban change shaped the novelist's representations of place.