In 1666 a spark from an unattended Baker's oven in Pudding Lane led to the Great Fire which levelled large areas of London. After the flames had been put out and the dead buried, London was once more a blank canvas for the builders and architects to create a new city a city which could be built in the full glory deserving of its destiny. The men at the centre of London's reconstruction were, in the main, members of the Royal Society, men such as Sir Christopher Wren. This society, founded originally by the Rosicrucians, adhered to a belief in the mystical wisdom of the ancient world and the millenarianist beliefs of its founders. Central to this idea was the conviction that London had long been the chosen site of the New Jerusalem the city that would descend from the sky at the Second Coming as foretold in the book of Revelation. Now, the Great Fire, as devastating as it had been, had given them the chance to recreate the city in a more fitting image. In this book Adrian Gilbert takes the reader on a guided tour of a hidden London, revealing the true significance of such well known sites as St Paul's Cathedral, the Monument and Temple church. He also introduces us to the men and women who shaped 17th-century London, leaving us this legacy of mystical significance. Written in Adrian Gilbert s trademark style, combining personal detective story, archaeological investigation and rigorous historical research, "The New Jerusalem" is a colourful historical portrait of London as we have never seen it before.
