The Phoenix is the story of how London grew out of the flames of 1666 to become the most powerful city in the world, driven by an extraordinary generation - of scientists and architects, thinkers and builders - that turned its back on chaos to build a new future. Men such as John Evelyn, the writer and gardener who hoped London would rival any city in Europe; or Robert Hooke, the instrument maker who would measure out the city in the aftermath of the fire; and Nicholas Barbon, a physician and businessman whose pursuit of profit would alter London's very landscape; and finally John Locle, whose ideas rejected the past and changed the way that we came to understand the world. Above all, this is a book about St Paul's and Christopher Wren's quest to rebuild the cathedral that has become such an icon of London. The story of the destruction and transformation of St Paul's forms the spine of this riveting and constantly surprising book, in which a familiar subject acts as a window onto a fascinating and tumultous century.