AKA Coffee, Conversation & Commerce: How London Became the Centre of the World
Coffee didn’t just wake London up. It fuelled its takeover of the world…
Mark brings London’s coffee-house world vividly to life.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a strange new drink transformed London.
Coffee played a crucial role in turning London into the global centre of trade, finance and speculation.
Pasqua Rossee’s Coffee House and Jonathan’s and Garraway’s and Lloyd’s and countless other establishments became places where news was swapped, fortunes made and lost, and modern capitalism was improvised at small, crowded tables.
In hundreds of bustling coffee houses, merchants, shipowners, insurers, pamphleteers, gamblers and visionaries gathered at cramped wooden tables to argue, gossip, calculate, scheme and change history.
The Coffee-House Big Bang traces the arrival of coffee from the Ottoman Empire and shows how a bitter black drink sharpened minds, loosened tongues, weaponised rumours, lubricated deals, and helped create modern capitalism. Coffee houses became places where fortunes were made and lost, newspapers were born, markets moved and the future was improvised at small crowded tables.
A visitor to London in 1698 marvelled at what he found:
“You have all Manner of News there. You have a good Fire, which you may sit by as long as you please. You have a Dish of Coffee. You meet your Friends for the Transaction of Business, and all for a Penny, if you don’t care to spend more.”
– Maximilien Misson
We walk lanes and alleyways once frequented by Samuel Pepys and Benjamin Franklin and meet some of the other regulars who haunted these establishments. Scientists, spies, swindlers and visionaries all rubbed shoulders here, including the man who was Christopher Wren’s best friend and Isaac Newton’s most implacable enemy.
Mark uncovers how pillars of the British economy, from Lloyd’s of London to the Stock Exchange, began life in coffee houses. Not as respectable institutions but as noisy, argumentative, occasionally riotous rooms where dark deals were struck, sharp practice was admired, and the future of the world was hammered out over “dishes” of coffee strong enough to keep you awake for days.
Joan Roy –
We really enjoyed Mark’s walk. He was very organised and had many photos and maps to help us and was very happy to answer any questions. Thank you Mark.
Justin Whitmarsh –
Another London Walks Winner. Fascinating and entertaining as usual.
Mary Barry –
I really enjoyed this walk. Mark was very knowledgeable and ready to answer any questions. He was well organised and had a lot of photographs and maps to show us. The pace was just right I thought. After the walk Mark suggested a visit to a pub to continue discussions in a relaxed setting. This was a nice way to end the morning.
Rick C –
A brilliant Walk. Mark took us through the story, introduction and development of Coffee houses in London. Seeng plenty of old Coffee Houses, many tucked down historic courts and alleyways was amazing. What made it especially accessible was that he had large A3 images to show us of every aspect of the talk and the locations we went to.
Bridget –
We thoroughly enjoyed Mark’s walk and the fascinating insights into the early development of London and the place of coffee in the establishment of capitalism.