“Corton’s book combines meticulous social history with a wealth of eccentric detail…. It’s discoveries like these that make reading London Fog such an unusual, enthralling and enlightening experience.”
“Corton’s wonderfully detailed and original exploration of foggy London ranges from the earliest mists to the last great pea-souper of 1962… Her account is rich in memorable anecdotes and descriptions, gleaned from popular culture, literature, journals and contemporary letters as well as cartoons and art history: the book is also splendidly illustrated.”
“Drawing on novels and poems, paintings and films, Ms. Corton’s study is crammed with thought-provoking elucidations. It sounds hokey to say it, but she has shed a bright light on the fog.”
“One of the pleasures of the book is reading the fictional and real accounts that Corton highlights, though her exhaustive inclusion of what feels to be nearly every book that touches on London fog does get repetitive.”
“Along with historical accounts of the city’s fogs, Corton’s 'biography' looks closely at their representation in art and literature. Her book is packed with newspaper illustrations, reproductions of hazy ‘impressionistic’ paintings by Whistler and Monet, many photographs, and even stills from films about Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes”
