London and the Kingdom is a richly documented civic history that traces the constitutional, political, and social development of the City of London in relation to the English Crown and the wider realm. Written in a measured Victorian scholarly style, the work draws heavily on municipal records, charters, chronicles, and Guildhall archives to illuminate London's privileges, institutions, guilds, and recurring negotiations with royal authority. Its literary context belongs to the great nineteenth-century tradition of archival urban history, combining antiquarian precision with a narrative sense of national significance. Reginald R. Sharpe was especially well placed to produce such a study. As a historian associated with London's municipal records and the Guildhall, he had unusually direct access to the documentary foundations of the city's past. His professional familiarity with civic archives shaped both the scope and authority of the book, enabling him to present London not merely as a setting for English history but as an active political body whose liberties and wealth influenced the kingdom's evolution. This book is recommended for readers interested in medieval and early modern London, constitutional history, civic institutions, and the relationship between local autonomy and national power. Though dense in documentation, it rewards patient reading with a clear understanding of London's enduring historical importance.

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Reginald R. Sharpe (1848–1925) was a British barrister-at-law. His best known work is a study on the city of London.