![]() ![]() In the world of Dr Johnson’s London (2000), private madhouses were a profitable line and false teeth could be ordered by post chalk was used to thicken milk and lead to blacken tea. Liza Picard trained as a lawyer, working for the Inland Revenue for almost two decades, and as a historian was self-taught, her first book being published when she was 70 The Sunday Telegraph described her account of “how our 17th-century ancestors ate, slept, travelled, worshipped, loved, clothed themselves, tried to keep healthy” as “a marvellous source-book for historical novelists and film-makers out for authenticity, and a near-perfect bedside book for anyone else”. Reviewers decided that she had succeeded. The practical details are rarely covered in social history books … The only answer appeared to be to write a book myself.” I have always been interested in how people lived. ![]() Her books began as a retirement hobby – she was 70 when the first was published – and Liza made her inspiration clear: “I have a practical mind. ![]() ![]() The success of the first, Restoration London (1997), stimulated a mini-boom of history books on everyday life in the capital. Liza Picard, who has died aged 94, wrote a series of books on London’s social history. ![]()
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