When London Was Capital of America

In the years before independence, the famous city’s heyday as a beacon for colonial Americans

“Ambitious . . . lively. . . . Beautifully reimagining a city that was a distant but integral part of American life, Flavell’s book is essential reading for anyone interested in the colonial period.”—Andrea Wulf, New York Times Book Review

Benjamin Franklin secretly loved London more than Philadelphia: it was simply the most exciting place to be in the British Empire. And in the decade before the...