London South Bank through time

The South Bank, stretching from Blackfriars Bridge in the east to Westminster Bridge in the west, has developed over the years into one of London's major arts and entertainment districts.

It is home to many of the capital's top tourist attractions, including the Royal Festival Hall and National Theatre, BFI, the London Eye, London Aquarium, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Tate Modern.

Once known as Lambeth Marsh, this area of wharfs and industry began its transformation with the construction of County Hall in 1917.

This process was given a major boost with the Festival of Britain in 1951 and the land east of the new County Hall was redeveloped into the tourist destination that it is today and also renamed as the more appealing South Bank, All these changes are captured in this unique selection of old and new images and informative captions, compiled by London author Brian Girling, and is essential reading for anybody who knows and loves this area.