Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The second floor has the
John Singer Sargent room,
an art gallery of military-
themed works; hiding behind the entryway is Sargent's
Gassed
(1919), showing besieged
troops in World War I, and other giant canvases. The third-floor section on the
Holocaust,
one of the best on the subject anywhere, tells the story of Nazi persecution of the Jews and
other groups, with powerful videos, artifacts, and fine explanations.
These sights are in Southwark (SUTH-uck), the core of the tourist's South Bank. South-
wark was for centuries the place Londoners would go to escape the rules and decency of
the city and let their hair down. Bearbaiting, brothels, rollicking pubs, and theater—you
name the dream, and it could be fulfilled just across the Thames. A run-down warehouse
district through the 20th century, it's been gentrified with classy restaurants, office parks,
pedestrian promenades, major sights (such as the Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe),
and a colorful collection of lesser sights. The area is easy on foot and a scenic—though
circuitous—way to connect the Tower of London with St. Paul's. You'll find more inform-
ation on these sights in the
Bankside Walk chapter.
