there was a book also that cannot this last year called wilkie collins. >> he was a 19th century companion of dickens who was almost as famous but was best known for his detective fiction is. his most famous ones being the moonstone and the woman in white, which that tennis sensation novel. and it was suggested to me i might like to write about him because it was an association and also because of the prominent place in the history of the cessation and also to me because he was a visionary. he was a part of that tradition he never went beyond the bounds of a square mile of london. so i like him for that reason alone. >> how often do you leave london? >> i believe it very rarely. very rarely indeed. >> why? >> i feel at home. i don't feel the need to go anywhere. i do not know enough about them to understand them properly like i know london. and so i just look at them with a blank look or understanding the history. that is a very unsatisfactory way of seeing the country. >> behind you here in the studio in london is st. paul's cathedral. what can you tell me about st. paul's cathedral? >> i