When London Burned

by G. A. Henty

First published 1895

Amazon Gutenberg EPUB

2.5(5)

When London Burned is set in Restoration London in the 1660s, culminating in the Great Fire of 1666. Its subtitle, “A Story of Restoration Times and the Great Fire,” identifies the main historical frame. Henty follows fictional protagonists whose private fortunes are drawn into the larger events of the age, giving the reader a ground-level view of Great Fire of London. Historical figures including Charles II of England and Samuel Pepys connect the fictional action directly to the documented events.

Personal adventure is set against the social and political pressures of the period, keeping the history close to lived experience. The added historical detail comes through the practical texture of the period—movement, news, supplies, local loyalties and the uncertainty created by war or political upheaval. The result is a fast-moving adventure that introduces the setting and its major conflicts while keeping the emphasis on what it might have felt like to live through them.