ABSTRACT
Publications on early modern London range from brief articles to full-length monographs but tend to focus on a limited topic as well as period. One aspect of London’s early modern history that influences almost all others is the capital’s enormous physical and demographic growth. From Gregory King onwards, arithmeticians, historians and demographers have tried to establish the population’s size and the chronology of its growth, using a variety of data sources, either as an end in itself or as part of another enquiry. Long-term shifts in the popularity and focus of economic history over the period 1975-95 can be observed in London’s historiography. The debate about social stability is inseparable from the examination of social structure, and especially the study of poverty and its relief, to which much attention has been devoted. One important aspect of London’s growth is the increasing localisation of social characteristics, including poverty and deprivation.
