Once an Arcadian suburb of grand houses, orchards and conservatories, Hackney declined into a zone of asylums, hospitals and dirty industry. Persistently revive

A New Statesman Book of the Year London. A city apart. Inimitable. Or so it once seemed. Spiralling from the outer limits of the Overground to the pinnacle of t

'A remarkable book; surprisingly gripping and often very moving ... at once disorientating and illuminating.' - Robert Macfarlane We shape ourselves, and are sh

From "an astonishingly original and entertaining writer" (Michael Dirda, The Washington Post) and "our greatest guide to London" (The Spectator), an extraordina

Originally published in Great Britain in 2013 by Hamish Hamilton.