Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Who would've thought that one of the most important figures of 20th century literature lived in Charlton, South London. Italo Svevo is considered one of the great modernist writers of the 20th century but is largely forgotten in Britain despite the fact that he lived for a period of time in Charlton, was an avid Charlton Athletic supporter and regularly visited London up until the time of his death in 1928. He was the inspiration for the character of Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's famous book, Ulysses and the two writers became friends after Svevo was a student of Joyce in the city of Trieste, at that time the main port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire but today part of Italy. Svevo lived in a house in Charlton Church Lane from 1903 until 1913 and continued to visit the area after the first world war until 1928. The video starts at Foyles bookshop in Charing Cross Road to pick up a copy of Svevo's most famous book The Confessions of Zeno (Zeno's Conscience). Then the walk starts in Lewisham and passes across Blackheath to Charlton. Along the way we explore how the city of Trieste played a major role in the writing of James Joyce with footage of the city from a visit in 2025.
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Related videos
South London 'Psychic Circuit' - Shooter's Hill to Woolwich youtu.be/rSNdrIF0i2I?si=C8gSyAJ1doXTukcB
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Please subscribe for regular videos: bit.ly/1EJjIB8
Music
Bohemian Bed - Franz Gordon
Equanimity - 369
Flowers in the Mirror - Sayuri Hayashi Egnell
Luxe - Johannes Bornlof
Slippery Leaves - Franz Gordon
courtesy of epidemicsound.com
share.epidemicsound.com/ftphix (affiliate link)
Over the Meadow, Over the Stream - Alan Rogers
#londonwalk #londonhistory
Maps:
Open Street Map “© OpenStreetMap contributors” using data available under the Open Database Licence
NLS Historic OS Maps 'Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland' maps.nls.uk/index.html
_________________________________________________________________________________
Patreon patreon.com/JohnRogers
My Books:
Welcome to New London amzn.to/3LTK9Rv
This Other London amzn.to/2zbFmTd
Audiobook & Kindle: amzn.to/2xLGb8s
Blog: The Lost Byway: thelostbyway.com
Twitter: twitter.com/fugueur
Instagram instagram.com/thelostbyway
Shot in 4K on a Olympus OM-D EM-1 mark 2 with audio recorded with a DJI Mic Mini
My Walking kit (amazon affiliate link - I earn a small commission on purchases)
amzn.to/2Xky2UA
Who would've thought that one of the most important figures of 20th century literature lived in Charlton, South London. Italo Svevo is considered one of the great modernist writers of the 20th century but is largely forgotten in Britain despite the fact that he lived for a period of time in Charlton, was an avid Charlton Athletic supporter and regularly visited London up until the time of his death in 1928. He was the inspiration for the character of Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's famous book, Ulysses and the two writers became friends after Svevo was a student of Joyce in the city of Trieste, at that time the main port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire but today part of Italy. Svevo lived in a house in Charlton Church Lane from 1903 until 1913 and continued to visit the area after the first world war until 1928. The video starts at Foyles bookshop in Charing Cross Road to pick up a copy of Svevo's most famous book The Confessions of Zeno (Zeno's Conscience). Then the walk starts in Lewisham and passes across Blackheath to Charlton. Along the way we explore how the city of Trieste played a major role in the writing of James Joyce with footage of the city from a visit in 2025.
Thanks to my supporters on Patreon and the YouTube Members
Related videos
South London 'Psychic Circuit' - Shooter's Hill to Woolwich youtu.be/rSNdrIF0i2I?si=C8gSyAJ1doXTukcB
Ways To Support the Channel
Patreon patreon.com/JohnRogers
YouTube Memberships youtube.com/channel/UCk1qvhkPMbF703QHR8qj8og/join
Donation via PayPaul paypal.me/JohnRogersLondon
Buy Me a Coffee - thanks ko-fi.com/johnrogerswalks
- Thank You!
Please subscribe for regular videos: bit.ly/1EJjIB8
Music
Bohemian Bed - Franz Gordon
Equanimity - 369
Flowers in the Mirror - Sayuri Hayashi Egnell
Luxe - Johannes Bornlof
Slippery Leaves - Franz Gordon
courtesy of epidemicsound.com
share.epidemicsound.com/ftphix (affiliate link)
Over the Meadow, Over the Stream - Alan Rogers
#londonwalk #londonhistory
Maps:
Open Street Map “© OpenStreetMap contributors” using data available under the Open Database Licence
NLS Historic OS Maps 'Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland' maps.nls.uk/index.html
_________________________________________________________________________________
Patreon patreon.com/JohnRogers
My Books:
Welcome to New London amzn.to/3LTK9Rv
This Other London amzn.to/2zbFmTd
Audiobook & Kindle: amzn.to/2xLGb8s
Blog: The Lost Byway: thelostbyway.com
Twitter: twitter.com/fugueur
Instagram instagram.com/thelostbyway
Shot in 4K on a Olympus OM-D EM-1 mark 2 with audio recorded with a DJI Mic Mini
My Walking kit (amazon affiliate link - I earn a small commission on purchases)
amzn.to/2Xky2UA
