Mudlarking: The Sunday Times Bestseller

What a wonderful book, full of interesting facts and insights brought to life into a world gone by. The descriptions of how life used to be and how people lived, dug up (literally) and shared to the reader with an in depth knowledge and passion. I would thoroughly recommend this book to everyone but especially to people who live near the River Thames, a beautiful book which I will read again and again. The only downside, there were no illustrations within the book. However the covers of the book contained some beautifully hand drawn pictures of artefacts that are talked about within the book. Waiting for a sequel!

Really dull and dry with no photos of the finds, I possibly misunderstood what the book was about I thought there would be images of the exciting finds. It’s a vanity project and I stopped reading after the first chapter.

I thought maybe this would be a random collection of information about items found in the Thames, like a catalogue of historical items and facts, maybe with pictures, but this is much more cohesive story than that. Note that the only pictures are inside the cover sheets and they're really beautiful, they even have a story, as does the cover image and even the font used.Mudlarking reads like an intimate history of the river and I feel like I'm on a journey of discovery with the author, only she's getting cold, wet and muddy so I don't have to...Also if you like the book, I'd highly recommend following the author on social media for regular snippets of discovery.

I'd been anticipating the launch of this book for a while, and it didn't disappoint. I'm a tour guide in London and the Thames is its beating heart, so I was really interested to view the city from a different perspective. Packed with fascinating social history, but also with soul, this was such a joy to read - finished in 3 sessions! Maiklem's use of language is considered and poised - and highly evocative: ''The bones of old ships, river slimed and rotting'.... This would be the perfect gift for anyone who loves social history or London. I'm sorely tempted to get myself a permit and get down on that foreshore. Thank you Lara!

Hugely disappointing for one reason only - No plates, no diagrams, no pictures - nowt included with the text.I gave up after 80 pages of trying to picture in my mind what was written in the text. Had this book been properly illustrated it would indeed be 5 star.The text is an easy read and is informative but for novices such as myself it is simply too much of an exercise in looking things up on the internet so as to get a proper visualisation of the finds.Why would a publisher do this? Money (cheapskate) I guess. It'll be going to the charity shop.

Wish I'd realised there are no illustrations of the finds except for the inside cover.