Many books have been written, and continue to be written, about Soho. Much historical material is also available on-line and a link to the extensive and richly documented British History Online web-site is included here. Not all the books are specific to Soho. Several contain only a chapter or a few pages of relevent text and these are included here too.
 
If you know of or possess a book about some aspect of Soho which is not listed here then please let us know some details so that they may be added here.
 
Our thanks for additional information go to: Mike Allan, Maurice Poole and Shirley Frankel.

• Dangerous Muse, by Nancy Schoenberger
• Publisher to the Decadents, by James G. Nelson
• Goodbye To Soho, by Clayton Littlewood
• Soho Square, by Margaret Goldsmith
• The Angel and the Cuckoo, by Gerald Kersh

All This and Many a Dog

AUTHOR: Jim Godbolt
PUBLISHER:
DATE:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT: Biography of author with sections about Ronnie Scott's jazz club (first in Gerrard Street, then in Frith Street).

An Indiscreet Guide to Soho

AUTHOR: Stanley Jackson
PUBLISHER: Muse Arts, 48 South Molton Street, London W1.
DATE: estimated about 1946
ISBN: n/a
DESCRIPTION: hardback, 135 pages, plus book catalogue.

The Angel and the Cuckoo

AUTHOR: Gerald Kersh
PUBLISHER: London Books. (Several books reviews listed on the London Books web-site include details of Soho.)
DATE: 2011, first published 1967
ISBN: 978-0-9568155-0-7
DESCRIPTION: pp: 333, 135mm W x 205mm H
CONTENTS ...three love stories, all connected by Steve Zobrany, proprietor of The Angel and the Cuckoo, a cafe in a hidden courtyard at one end of Carnaby Street

Billy Hill - Godfather of London

AUTHOR: Wensley Clarkson
PUBLISHER: Pennant Books
DATE:
ISBN-10: 1906015430, ISBN-13: 978-1906015435
DESCRIPTION: Paperback, 288 pages
COMMENT:

Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia and Soho

AUTHOR: Roger Hudson, Joe Whitlock Blundell
PUBLISHER: Haggerston Press, 38 Kensington Place, London W8 7PR
DATE: 1996
ISBN: 1-869812-14-X
DESCRIPTION:

Britain in Old Photographs - Westminster

AUTHOR: Jill Barber
PUBLISHER: Sutton Publishing, Phoenix Mill, Stroud, Gloucs. GL5 2BU
DATE: 1998
ISBN: 0-7509-1721-0
DESCRIPTION: paperback, 128 pages, index.

British History Online

Survey of London List of Volumes
 
VOLUMES 31 and 32: St James, Westminster, Part 2: The parish, between Piccadilly and Oxford Street. Includes streets in Soho, Golden Square, some history of the Piccadilly Circus area, and the formation of Shaftesbury Avenue. The history of James Wyatt's Pantheon, of 1772 (on the south side of Oxford Street), is also given. Rebuilding of the Regent Street Quadrant in 1905-28.
 
VOLUMES 33 and 34: St. Anne, Soho: the most famous of London's cosmopolitan quarters as defined largely by Wardour Street, Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road, and includes Soho Square, Leicester Square, and part of Cambridge Circus. Many of the streets here were first built up in the late 17th century under the building speculators Dr Nicholas Barbon and Richard Frith. Some Georgian houses are described and illustrated, e.g. No.1 Greek Street and No.76 Dean Street.

Capital Affairs - London and the Making of the Permissive Society

AUTHOR: Frank Mort
PUBLISHER: Yale University Press
DATE: June 2010
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION: Hardcover
COMMENT: A full-page critique of this book was published in the Camden New Journal in the Review section, page 3, in issue no.1463 dated Thursday 15 July 2010.

The Capital Companion - A Street-by-Street Guide to London and Its Inhabitants

AUTHOR: Peter Gibson (c)1985
PUBLISHER: Webb & Bower, Exeter, Devon EX2 4BY, U.K.
DATE: 1985
ISBN: 0-86350-042-0
DESCRIPTION: Contains details of more than 780 people and nearly 400 streets (1,500 addresses). Hardback, 446 pages.

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Carlisle House, Carlisle Street, Soho, London

AUTHOR: J.B.W.
PUBLISHER:
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION: may be about the British Board of Film Censors
COMMENT: offered for sale on Amazon.com, March 2011. No further details available.

City Ablaze - Life with the World's Busiest Fire-fighters

AUTHOR: Martin Lloyd-Elliot
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing, London
DATE: 19 March 1992
ISBN: ?
DESCRIPTION: "This thrilling book is a study of the Soho Fire Station, its men, their lives and their work."
COMMENT: See also a book review in the Soho Clarion, Spring 1992, no.77

Covent Garden and Soho - The Illustrated A-Z historical guide

AUTHORS: Richard and Sheila Tames
PUBLISHER: Historical Publications Ltd.
PUBLICATION DATE: September 2009
ISBN: 978-1-905286-31-7
DESCRIPTION: Softback with flap covers. 230mm H x 192mm W. 192 pages. A-Z format. 212 illustrations (78 colour). Subject index.

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Dangerous Muse

AUTHOR: Nancy Schoenberger
PUBLISHER: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, £20
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
BOOK REVIEW: See Soho Clarion for Autumn-Winter 2001, page 13

Dirty White Boy - Tales of Soho

AUTHOR: Clayton Littlewood
PUBLISHER: Cleis Press
DATE: 2008
ISBN:
DESCRIPTION: a review published in The Soho Clarion

Dog Days In Soho

AUTHOR: Nigel Richardson
PUBLISHER:
DATE:
ISBN:
DESCRIPTION:

The Drawbridge, see Spanner, below

PUBLISHER: Black's members club

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Elena - A Life in Soho

AUTHOR: Elena Salvoni with Sandy Fawkes
PUBLISHER: Quartet Books
DATE: 1 April 1990
ISBN-13: 978 0704 32745 0
DESCRIPTION: Hardcover, £12.95
COMMENT: The life story of Elena Salvoni who was the Maître d'hôtel of L'Escargot Restaurant.
See book review in the Soho Clarion, no.71

The Evening Standard newspaper

An article about Berwick Street market entitled "Dying Soho market to be made into vibrant 'village high street'" and written by Jonathan Prynn and Miranda Bryant was published on Friday 7 October 2011.

The Faber Book of London

EDITOR: A.N. Wilson
PUBLISHER:
DATE:
ISBN: 0-571-17174-5
DESCRIPTION: paperback, 493 pages, bibliography, authors, index

Gangland Bosses - The Lives of Jack Spot and Billy Hill

AUTHORS: James Morton and Gerry Parker
PUBLISHER: Time Warner Paperbacks
DATE: 2005
ISBN-10: 0751533203, ISBN-13: 978-0751533200
DESCRIPTION: Paperback, 384 pages
COMMENT:

Goodbye London - An Illustrated Guide to Threatened Buildings

AUTHOR: Christopher Booker and Candida Lycett Green
PUBLISHER: Fontana
DATE: 1973
ISBN: 0-00-633216-1
DESCRIPTION: See pages 55 - 63

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Goodbye to Soho

AUTHOR: Clayton Littlewood
PUBLISHER:
DATE: 2012 ??
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT:

He Kills Coppers

AUTHOR: Jake Arnott
PUBLISHER: Sceptre
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT:

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Hindsights - An Autobiography

AUTHOR: John Heath-Stubbs
PUBLISHER: Hodder & Stoughton, London
DATE: ? but after 1992
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT: several paragraphs about Soho on pages 167-168. The author may have been blind and the book written by an amanuensis.

Hit 'em Hard - Jack Spot, King of the Underworld

AUTHOR: Wensley Clarkson
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Entertainment
DATE: 2002
ISBN-10: 0007124406, ISBN-13: 978-0007124404
DESCRIPTION: Hardcover, 305 pages
COMMENT:

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Inside Soho

AUTHOR: Mark Edmonds
ILLUSTRATOR: Gary Wing
PUBLISHER: Nicholson
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT: See Soho Clarion, no.64

Jazz at Ronnie Scott's [JARS]

EDITOR: Jim Godbolt
PUBLISHER: Ronnie Scott's, Soho, London W1.
DATE: 1979-2006
DESCRIPTION: magazine format, monochrome pictures.
COMMENT: Jazz at Ronnie Scott's was published monthly in-house by Ronnie Scott's. It was founded by editor Jim Godbolt n 1979 and edited by him during the period 1979-2006, ending with takeover of the club by theatre impressario Sally Greene. Number of editions may exceed 159.

The Last Lamplighter: A Soho Education

AUTHOR: Stephen Fothergill
PUBLISHER: London Magazine Editions
DATE: May 2000
ISBN-10: 0904388832, ISBN-13: 978-0904388831
DESCRIPTION: 152 pages. Hardback.
CONTENT: "The Last Lamplighter" describes life in Soho during the 1940s and 1950s.

Living Through the Blitz

AUTHOR: Tom Harrison
PUBLISHER: Penguin
DATE: 1990
ISBN: 0-14-013236-8
DESCRIPTION: Comment within pages 61-132

Living Up West - Jewish Life in London's West End

AUTHOR: Gerry Black
PUBLISHER: The London Museum Of Jewish Life
DATE: 1994
ISBN: 0-9511-613-6-9
DESCRIPTION: paperback, 336 pages, bibliography, glossary, index.

London

AUTHOR: Mrs Robert Henrey
PUBLISHER: J.M. Dent & Co., London
DATE: 1955
ISBN: n/a
DESCRIPTION: hardback, 290 pages. See various pages about Soho

London

AUTHOR: A.R. Hope Moncrieff
PUBLISHER: A & C Black, Soho Square, London W1
DATE: 1929
ISBN: n/a/
DESCRIPTION: hardback, 267 pages, index. See various pages about Soho

London

AUTHOR: Edward Rutherfurd (...furd=correct spelling)
PUBLISHER: Arrow Books
DATE: 1998
ISBN: 0-09-920191-7
DESCRIPTION: historical novel, paperback, 1302 pages

London Calling: A Countercultural History of London Since 1945

AUTHOR: Barry Miles
PUBLISHER: Atlantic Books
DATE:
ISBN:
PRICE: £12.99 (in 2011)
COMMENT: Describes the counter culture which took root in the West End and Soho in the decades which followed the Second World War. Reviewed in The Observer newspaper (U.K.), Sunday 6 Feb 2011.

London Marches On

AUTHOR: Harold P. Clunn
PUBLISHER: The Caen Press, Temple Avenue, EC4
DATE: 1947
ISBN: n/a
DESCRIPTION: hardback, 247 pages, index. See various pages listed in index

London - The Wicked City

AUTHOR: Fergus Linnane
PUBLISHER:
DATE:
ISBN-10: 1-86105-619-2, ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION: Paperback
COMMENT:

Madeleine Grown Up

AUTHOR: Mrs Robert Henrey
PUBLISHER: Pan Books, London, 1955
DATE:
ISBN:
FORMAT: paperback, 268 pages + 4 advertising pages
COMMENT: The author lived with her mother in a one small room in Soho.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "This book is a continuation of The Little Madeleine, written with the same attention to truth. The action takes place from my going to the Savoy Hotel, London, as a manicurist in February 1927 to my marriage at St George's, Hanover Square, on 2nd December 1928."

Members Only - The Life and Times of Paul Raymond

AUTHOR: Paul Willetts
PUBLISHER: Serpent's Tail, London.
DATE: 3 September 2010
ISBN-13: 9781846687150
DESCRIPTION: 479 pages, softback.
COMMENT:

Metropolitan Myths - The Private Lives of London People

AUTHOR: Glenys Roberts
PUBLISHER: Libri Mundi, London
DATE: 1989
ISBN: 1-872037-00-3
DESCRIPTION: paperback, 176 pages, see chapter 16, Soho.

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Naked City - 150 Faces of Hidden London

AUTHOR: David Brazil
PUBLISHER: Macdonald Queen Anne Press
DATE: circa 1987
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT: The Intrepid Fox pub, the John Snow pub, the King of Corsica and the Karl Marx Rooms are the subjects of several stories.
REVIEW: Soho Clarion, Summer 1987, no.61

Naked Jungle - Soho Stripped Bare

AUTHOR: Murray Goldstein
PUBLISHER: Silverback Press
DATE: 2005
ISBN-10: 0954944402, ISBN-13: 978-0954944407
DESCRIPTION: Paperback

TITLE PAGE

Nothing is for Nothing

AUTHOR: David Alan Giacardi © 1965
PUBLISHER: Hammond, Hammond & Co., 87 Gower Street, London WC1.
DATE: 1965
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT: Mike Allan wrote: "[it's] a crime novel set in early '60s Soho and published in 1966. The novel is about various youths engaged in crime who frequent a coffee bar called the 'Little Venus', based on the 'Freight Train' coffee bar, after the Nancy Whisky song."

One Of The Boys

AUTHOR: Beatrix von Watzdorf
PUBLISHER: Andre Deutsch
DATE:
ISBN: 0-233-98925-0
DESCRIPTION: hardback, xix + 215 pages
CONTENT: Reminiscences of being on stage and back-stage at Madame Jo-Jo's.

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Passport to Soho

AUTHOR:
PUBLISHER:
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT:

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The Pornbrokers - The Rise of the Soho Sex Barons

AUTHOR: Martin Tomkinson
PUBLISHER: Virgin
DATE: about 1982
ISBN-10:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT:
See Soho Clarion, 1982, no.41, page 12

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Publisher to the Decadents

AUTHOR: James G. Nelson
PUBLISHER: Rivendale Press, £25
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
BOOK REVIEW: See Soho Clarion for Autumn-Winter 2001, page 13

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A Reader's Guide to Writers' London

AUTHOR: Ian Cunningham (text copyright © 2001)
PUBLISHER: Prion Books (compilation and layout copyright © 2001)
DATE:
ISBN-10: 0-233-00125-5
DESCRIPTION: hardcover, 18.1cm W x 25.7cm H, gazetteer, index, 293 pages, monochrome and colour pictures, pages about Soho: 11, £16.99.
COMMENT:

The Romance of Soho - Being an Account of the District, its Past Distinguished Inhabitants, its Historic Houses, and its Place in the Social Annals of London

AUTHOR: E. Beresford Chancellor
PUBLISHER: Country Life, London
DATE: 1931
ISBN: n/a
DESCRIPTION: 276 pages, index

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Farrago

AUTHOR: Jim Godbolt
PUBLISHER: Hampstead Press, London
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION: 204 pages
COMMENT: Based upon articles published in Jazz at Ronnie Scott's [JARS].

Secrets of the 43 Club

AUTHOR: Mrs Meyrick
PUBLISHER:
DATE: 1933
ISBN:
DESCRIPTION: The 43 Club was located at no.43 Gerrard Street, W1.

Shutting Up Shop: The Decline of the Traditional Small Shop

AUTHOR: John Londei
PUBLISHER: Dewi Lewis Publishing
DATE: 2007
ISBN-10: 1904587461, ISBN-13: 978 1904587460
DESCRIPTION: Hardback, 144 pages
COMMENT: We have not seen the contents of this book, photographs depicting the demise of sixty small shops in various parts of the U.K., and there may possibly be no direct reference to Soho. The book's subject however alludes to the loss of many small shops in Soho over many decades.

Skin Deep In Soho

AUTHOR: Richard Wortley
PUBLISHER: Jarrolds Publishers [London] Ltd
DATE: 1969
ISBN:
DESCRIPTION:

Soho

AUTHOR: Simon Lewis
PUBLISHER: Rich & Cowan, London
DATE: 1952
ISBN: n/a
DESCRIPTION: 207 pages, index. Much historical description, earlier centuries.

Soho

AUTHOR: Keith Waterhouse
PUBLISHER: Sceptre
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT:

Soho - A History of London's Most Colourful Neighborhood

AUTHOR: Judith Summers
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, 2 Soho Square, W1V 5DE.
DATE: 1989
ISBN: 0-7475-0384-2
DESCRIPTION: 244 pages, bibliography, index.
BOOK REVIEW: Soho Clarion, Spring 1991

A Soho Address

AUTHOR: Chaim Lewis
PUBLISHER: Victor Gollancz
DATE: 1965
ISBN: n/a
DESCRIPTION: Biographical story by Soho resident

The Soho Clarion

AUTHOR: various editors and contributors
PUBLISHER: The Soho Society, 55 Dean Street, Soho, London W1D 6AF, U.K.
DATE: four issues per annum: Summer, Autumn, Winter,Spring
ISSN:
DESCRIPTION: Sixteen A4 pages, colour and monochrome illustrations. Contains articles, pictures, history, advertisements and local information relevent to Soho, London W1.
COMMENT: In mid-April 2012, more than 80 past and present issues of The Soho Clarion were available in PDF format for browsing. It is expected that many more issues will be added during 2012. It is hoped to add a contents index later.

Soho Cooking

AUTHOR: Alastair Little (Soho restauranteur)
PUBLISHER: Ebury Press, London SW1V 2SA
DATE: 1999
ISBN: 0-09-186422-4
DESCRIPTION:hardback, 256 pages, index. Recipes, social and historical commentaries.

The Soho Don - Gangland's Greatest Untold Story

AUTHOR: Michael Connor
PUBLISHER: Mainstream Publishing
DATE: 2003
ISBN-10: 1840187816, ISBN-13: 978-1840187816
DESCRIPTION: Paperback, 224 pages
COMMENT: About Billy Howard who dominated the Soho, Mayfair and Brighton underworlds for 30 years. Died 1984.

Soho Figures of the 1950s and 1960s

AUTHOR: Jonathan Fryer
PUBLISHER:
DATE:
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION:
COMMENT: This title is part of the National Portrait Gallery's 'Character Sketches' series.

Soho In The Fifties

AUTHOR: Daniel Farson
PUBLISHER: Michael Joseph, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8
DATE: 1987
ISBN: 0-7181-2876-1
DESCRIPTION: 192 pages, index.

Soho, or Alex in Wonderland

AUTHOR: Keith Waterhouse
PUBLISHER: Hodder & Stoughton
DATE: 2001
ISBN: 0-340-76660-3
DESCRIPTION: a novel, 245 pages

Soho Night and Day

AUTHORS: Frank Norman and Jeffrey Bernard
PUBLISHER: Martin Secker & Warberg Ltd., London
DATE: 1966
ISBN:
DESCRIPTION: Details of people and places in Soho.

Soho Past

AUTHOR: Richard Tames
PUBLISHER: Historical Publications, 32 Ellington Street, N7 8PL
DATE: 1994
ISBN: 0-948667-26-5
DESCRIPTION: 144 pages, bibliography, index

FRONT COVER The Pepys Cockerill Tower of St. Anne's Church

BACK COVER Meard Street

Soho and St. Anne's Church

AUTHOR: Antony Hurst
PUBLISHER: Private.
DATE: September 2010
ISBN:
FORMAT: A5, paperback, stapled binding.
DESCRIPTION: Pages: iii + 85. Foreword, seven chapters, plus three further sections. Monochrome pictures.

Soho Society

AUTHOR: Bernie Katz
PUBLISHER: Quartet Books
DATE: 2008
ISBN-10: 0704371499; ISBN-13: 978-0704371491
DESCRIPTION: hardcover, 160 pages

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Soho Square

AUTHOR: Margaret Goldsmith
ILLUSTRATOR: John Greene
PUBLISHER: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., London
DATE: after 1946
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION: 14.8mm W x 22.2mm H x 20.0mm T, pages: ix + 196, contents: 10 chapters, bibliography
COMMENT:

Soho Youth

PUBLISHER: Soho Youth, http://www.sohoyouth.org
DATE: First issue: October 2009.
ISSN:
DESCRIPTION: Magazine format, A5, 32 pages, full colour.
COMMENT:

Spanner

AUTHOR:
PUBLISHER: Black's members club, 67 Dean Street, Soho, London W1D 4QH.
DATE: first issue expected in September 2011
ISBN-10: , ISBN-13:
DESCRIPTION: magazine
COMMENT: a brief description appeared in The Evening Standard newspaper, 9 August 2011, page 17. An earlier periodical, The Drawbridge, published by Black's did not succeed.

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The Story of Soho - The Windmill Years 1932-1964

AUTHOR: Mike Hutton
PUBLISHER: Amberley Publishing ,Stroud.
DATE: 2012
ISBN-13: 978 1 4456 0684 2
DESCRIPTION: Cloth bound, £20.00
COMMENT:

Up West

AUTHOR: Pip Granger
PUBLISHER: Corgi
DATE: 2009
ISBN: 9780552153751
DESCRIPTION:
CONTENT: A description of some of the men and women who lived in Covent Garden and Soho during the post-WW II years. The author and her book were featured on the BBC Radio Four Women's Hour programme on Wednesday 12 August 2009.

West End Girls

AUTHOR: Barbara Tate
PUBLISHER: Orion Books, London, U.K.
DATE: 22 July 2010
ISBN-13 (e-book): 9781409116073,
ISBN-13 (hardback): 9781409116066
DESCRIPTION: e-book and hardback formats. Hardback: £12.99
COMMENT: Barbara Tate was 17 when she heard the whispered word that would change her life: Soho. It would take four years for Barbara to escape her loveless home but when she finally made it to the forbidden streets of Soho - just as London was recovering from the trauma of the Second World War - things would never be the same again. There the naive Barbara meets the beautiful and capricious Mae. When she takes a job as Mae's maid, Barbara imagines she'll be housekeeping. But down a shabby backstreet, Barbara discovers the secret lives of Soho's working girls. Barbara Tate eventually left her Soho life and went on to marry, raise a family and become a successful painter. President of the Society of Women Artists, Barbara also received an honorary professorship from Thames Valley University. Barbara died in 2009.
SEE ALSO: http://www.barbaratate.co.uk/

Westminster's Villages

AUTHOR: Brian Girling
PUBLISHER: Chalford Publishing Co., St Mary's Mill, Chalford, Stroud, GL6 8NX
DATE: 1996
ISBN: 0-7524-0683-3
DESCRIPTION: 128 pages

Will I See You In Heaven?

EDITORS: Father Michael Seed and Noel Botham (of The French House, Dean Street)
PUBLISHER: Blake Publishing, London W14
DATE:
COPYRIGHT: 1999 (C) Seed/Botham
ISBN: 1-85782-390-7
DESCRIPTION: hardback, 208 pages. Photographs and line drawings.
CONTENT: Pages 194-197 contain comments about the nature of heaven by pupils of the Soho Parish School.