This text provides a reinterpretation of London during a period of dramatic change, and presents ways of understanding the coming modernity through the transformation of urban landscapes. The book starts an exploration of the major theoretical approaches to modernity. This is followed by studies of a number of sites within London that demonstrate the coming of modernity. The history and organization of Magdalen Hospital, the paving and lighting of Westminster, Vauxhall's pleasure gardens, and other are presented and given novel reinterpretation. This book should be of interest to those interested in the history of London or England, as well as those with an interest in cultural studies or 18th-century history.