Mudlark

Long heralded as a city treasure herself, expert "mudlarker" Lara Maiklem is uniquely trained in the art of seeking. From medieval mail worn by warriors on English battlefields to nineteenth-century glass marbles mass-produced for the nation's first soda bottles, Maiklem deduces the historical significance of these artifacts with the quirky enthusiasm and sharp-sightedness of a twenty-first century Sherlock Holmes.Seamlessly interweaving reflections from her own life with meditations on the art of wandering, Maiklem ultimately delivers--for Anglophiles and history lovers alike--a memorable treatise Tirelessly trekking across miles of the Thames' muddy shores, where others only see the detritus of city life, Maiklem unearths evidence of England's captivating, if sometimes murky, history--with some objects dating back to 43 AD, when London was but an outpost of the Roman Empire.