Viewpoints – Placecloud (English)

London, United Kingdom. On March 8th, 1941, the Café de Paris – 'the safest and gayest restaurant in town' – was destroyed in the Blitz. Among the dead was one of the most important figures in Black British jazz: Ken "Snakehips" Johnson.

This viewpoint includes extracts from 'Snakehips Swing' by Ken "Snakehips" Johnson and his West Indian Dance Orchestra, available on 'Black British Swing: The African Diaspora's Contribution To England's Own Jazz of the 1930s and 1940s'.

[CW: war; death]

London, United Kingdom. At the height of the Great Plague of London, great bonfires of rare herbs burn across the deserted city. Join Samuel Peyps in the midst of this hellish vision – a last-ditch attempt to stop the spread of disease.

London, United Kingdom. Take a tour around the pyramid for the London dead. Designed by failed architect Thomas Willson, the Sepulchre – though ultimately never built – would have been as tall as the Shard, with space for five million coffins.

London, United Kingdom. Take your final trip on the London Necropolis Railway, which transported coffins and mourners from the city to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. Make sure to get a first-class ticket so that your body doesn't mix with those of a lower sort.

London, United Kingdom. Just outside Broadgate Circle, five gigantic sheets of rusting steel have been haphazardly propped up against one other. This is Fulcrum, a sculpture by Richard Serra. Discover one of the boldest, and most controversial, artists of the twentieth century.

London, United Kingdom. Rimbaud and Verlaine, two of the most influential poets in French literature, had a sadistic and dysfunctional relationship – drinking, smoking opium, staying up for days at a time, and writing some of their greatest works. [CW: domestic violence; child abuse; suicide threat; drug abuse]

London, United Kingdom. On June 18th 1982, Roberto Calvi – financial advisor to the Pope – was found hanging from scaffolding underneath Blackfriars Bridge. The murder remains unsolved, and to delve into why is to dive into the confusing and corrupt world of the Vatican, the Freemasons, South American dictatorships and the Mafia. [CW: murder; suicide]

London, United Kingdom. Walk back in time with prehistoric monsters, and discover how these Victorian sculptures were designed – a history which includes a cruel professional rivalry and a decadent dinner in a dinosaur's stomach. [CW: suicide]

London, United Kingdom. A showpiece council estate of the London County Council opened in 1960, famous its 18-storey point blocks and a Henry Moore sculpture.

London, United Kingdom. A Westminster City Council housing estate of the 1950s; winner of a Civic Trust Award in 2000 as the outstanding building scheme of the previous forty years.