A People's History of London - Lindsey German and John Rees

Hub of empire, world port and seat of government, London has a political history that is nevertheless entwined with the lives of its people, a multitude often dismissed throughout the centuries as a mob. This gripping new counter-history reveals how London's poor and its immigrant population have shaped its history and identity over the ages: from apprentices closing the city gates on Charles I in the 1640s to modern fights against fascism and racism in Cable Street and Notting Hill. 

A People's History of London takes us into an unofficial, half-hidden and often undocumented world, a city rarely glimpsed: of pamphleteers, agitators, exiles, demonstrations and riots; the city of Wat Tyler, Marx and Engels, Garibaldi and Gandhi; and the countless pubs, theatres, coffee-houses and meeting-places in which radical ideas have been nurtured and revolutions planned.

'The history of London we have been waiting for, told with elegance and precision.'

Ken Loach

'Those who continue to uphold London's living traditions of protest will be able to take heart from this fresh and welcome look at the city's history.'

Guardian

'A timely reminder that there is a very different side to London, every bit as energetic and exciting in its way.'

Scotsman