I'm writing a novel set mainly in London between 1905 and 1910. My characters also travel to Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Marseilles. There's at once too many and too few sources to consult on what the cities would have looked like, and how a tourist would have tried to get around, and I'd really like to just read one or two comprehensive sources. I'm so far getting my info from random scraps of information on specific aspects and I don't think I'm doing justice to how these places "feel" or in distinguishing one place from another and creating a strong sense of place.
What would be some good books, or documentaries, or travelogues that might give me an idea about what these cities were like in that era?
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your creative project, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists and the like, based on past experience: some people working on creative projects have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical novel, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.