Ever since its inception in 1829 the Metropolitan Police Service has seen change on a daily basis, not least in recent years with budget cuts and the closure of police stations. Recording the stories of these buildings, BEHIND THE BLUE LAMP reveals the histories of more than 400 police stations operated by the Metropolitan Police over the course of its existence, from pre-Peel Parish watch houses to the New Scotland Yard headquarters on Victoria Embankment. The lives of the officers who served and sometimes lived in these police stations are related, charting a developing social history across the capital of almost two centuries. An account of the evolution of the Metropolitan Police District is also given, including histories of the various Divisions, and details of the developing uniforms, equipment and badges of rank over the course of more that 190 years are recorded.