January 2009


THE PHOENIX SUBURB


The first edition of this immensely readable and popular local history book, first published in 1972, has just been re-printed in a softback version; it had been out of print for many years, but enquiries never ceased.

When Alan Warwick, a local historian who lived in Norwood all his life, wrote the book there were plenty of Londoners who could not quickly locate this area on a map and today the name Crystal Palace still means no more to some than the name of a bus terminus. The author, however, understood the art of looking at history through the eyes of the people who once lived here and he thus injected flesh and blood into his story.

In the 1970?s the book was a familiar sight in the houses of older residents and newcomers alike. It appealed to their imagination, it helped them to make sense of the present and they looked at many a familiar location with fresh eyes. There is every reason to believe that a new generation will embrace the book with the same enthusiasm.

The Phoenix Suburb gives us a unique taste of the time, it is excellently researched and contains many photographs. For anybody interested in local history it is a fascinating tale of rise and fall, and possibly resurgence, of a London suburb.





PRICE £9.99
272 pages + 32 pages of illustrations

Anna Lines
Secretary
The Norwood Society
38 South Vale
London SE19 3BA

020 8653 8768
secretary@norwoodsociety.co.uk

www.norwoodsociety.co.uk