This year, London's elected mayor and assembly turn twenty. But has London's mayoralty lived up to the expectations that were set for it? Have its three mayors been able to get to grips with the city's challenges? How have they responded to crises in the past – and what does the future hold? This important new book marks the twentieth anniversary of London's mayor and assembly and investigates the relative successes and challenges of the mayoralty to date, before asking what comes next for London. It combines analysis by experts with reflections from those closely involved in setting up, running and working with the Greater London Authority, alongside those who have held the position of Mayor of London themselves.

Brown reflects on anti-London sentiment in the UK as the capital continues to gain power. The United Kingdom has never had an easy relationship with its capital. By far the wealthiest and most populous city in the country, London is the political, financial, and cultural center of the UK, responsible for almost a quarter of the national economic output. But the city’s insatiable growth and perceived political dominance have gravely concerned national leaders for hundreds of years. ​ This perception of London as a problem has only increased as the city becomes busier, dirtier, and more powerful. The recent resurgence in anti-London sentiment and plans to redirect power away from the capital should not be a surprise in a nation still feeling the effects of austerity. Published on the eve of the delayed mayoral elections and in the wake of the greatest financial downturn in generations, The London Problem asks whether it is fair to see the capital’s relentless growth and its stranglehold of commerce and culture as smothering the United Kingdom’s other cities, or whether as a global megacity it makes an undervalued contribution to Britain’s economic and cultural standing.

Changing London is a rough guide for the next mayor of London, capturing the radical but practical ideas of the people of London and embracing a pioneering and collaborative approach to politics. This is the book the voters wrote. It is vital reading for those who would be mayor and those who will decide.

_______________ WINNER OF THE INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION THE TOP 2 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR _______________ Mudlark (/'mAdla;k/) noun A person who scavenges for usable debris in the mud of a river or harbour Lara Maiklem has scoured the banks of the Thames for over fifteen years, in pursuit of the objects that the river unearths: from Neolithic flints to Roman hair pins, medieval buckles to Tudor buttons, Georgian clay pipes to Victorian toys. These objects tell her about London and its lost ways of life. Moving from the river's tidal origins in the west of the city to the point where it meets the sea in the east, Mudlarking is a search for urban solitude and history on the River Thames, which Lara calls the longest archaeological site in England. As she has discovered, it is often the tiniest objects that tell the greatest stories. _______________ 'Enchanting' - Sunday Times 'Driven by curiosity, freighted with mystery and tempered by chance, wonders gleam from every page' - Melissa Harrison 'Brilliant. No one has looked at these odd corners since Sherlock Holmes' - Sunday Telegraph 'The very best books that deal with the past are love letters to their subject, and the very best of those are about subjects that love their authors in return. Such books are very rare, but this is one' - Ian Mortimer 'Fascinating. There is nothing that Maiklem does not know about the history of the river or the thingyness of things' - Guardian 'A treasure. One of the best books I've read in years' - Tracy Borman

A biography of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay city official in the nation, recounts his public and personal life, and examines the emergence of the San Francisco gay community as a social and political force.

Interest in the governance of London is high following the election if Ken Livingstone as mayor. This volume provides a concise assessment of all aspects of the politics, government and administration of one of the world's leading cities.

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice A Telegraph Editor’s Choice An Evening Standard “Best Books about London” Selection In popular imagination, London is a city of fog. The classic London fogs, the thick yellow “pea-soupers,” were born in the industrial age of the early nineteenth century. Christine L. Corton tells the story of these epic London fogs, their dangers and beauty, and their lasting effects on our culture and imagination. “Engrossing and magnificently researched...Corton’s book combines meticulous social history with a wealth of eccentric detail. Thus we learn that London’s ubiquitous plane trees were chosen for their shiny, fog-resistant foliage. And since Jack the Ripper actually went out to stalk his victims on fog-free nights, filmmakers had to fake the sort of dank, smoke-wreathed London scenes audiences craved. It’s discoveries like these that make reading London Fog such an unusual, enthralling and enlightening experience.” —Miranda Seymour, New York Times Book Review “Corton, clad in an overcoat, with a linklighter before her, takes us into the gloomier, long 19th century, where she revels in its Gothic grasp. Beautifully illustrated, London Fog delves fascinatingly into that swirling miasma.” —Philip Hoare, New Statesman

The prize-winning author of The Memory of Love investigates London’s hidden nature and marginalized communities in this fascinating novel. London, 2014. A fox makes its way across Waterloo Bridge. The distraction causes two pedestrians to collide—Jean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes, and Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist. Attila has arrived in London with two tasks: to deliver a keynote speech on trauma, and to contact a friend’s daughter Ama, his “niece” who hasn’t called home in a while. Ama has been swept up in an immigration crackdown, and now her young son Tano is missing. Jean offers to help Attila by mobilizing her network volunteer fox spotters. Soon, rubbish men, security guards, hotel doormen, traffic wardens—mainly West African immigrants who work the myriad streets of London—come together to help. As the search for Tano continues, a deepening friendship between Attila and Jean unfolds. Attila’s time in London causes him to question his own ideas about trauma, the values of the society he finds himself in, and a personal grief of his own. In this delicate tale of love and loss, of thoughtless cruelty and unexpected community, Aminatta Forna asks us to consider our co-existence with one another and all living creatures, and the true nature of happiness.

From Art galleries, Bowler hats, and Cockneys to Weather, Umbrellas, and Zebra crossings, an alphabetical, pocket-sized tour through 1950s London First published in 1953, the year that saw thousands descend on London to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, London A to Z is a lexicon of the city’s curiosities, from the Achilles statue in Hyde Park “erected by the women of England to honor (if not to resemble) the Duke of Wellington,” via greyhound racing, lost property offices, and umbrellas, to zebra crossings (relative newcomers to London in 1953). Adorned throughout with Edward Bawden’s beautiful and distinctive illustrations, this charmingly idiosyncratic guide brings to life with a dry humor the London and Londoners of the day. More than sixty years have passed since the volume was first published and while many sights are now lost to time, readers may be surprised to find how this vintage guide continues to capture London’s quirks. A new introduction places the original publication in context, drawing the reader into 1950s London via a brief tour of the book’s most curious, nostalgic, and whimsical entries.

Following in the bestselling footsteps of the Strangest series, London is now available in a beautiful gift format – the perfect present for the London obsessive in the family! This fascinating volume is packed with amazing things you didn't know about the capital, such as the fact that it’s still forbidden to run, carry an umbrella or whistle in Burlington Arcade. Did you also know, for example, that there is a tiny, working jail cell that looks like a fat lamppost, situated at the southeast corner of Trafalgar Square, that still has a direct phone link to Scotland Yard? Or indeed, that the entrance to Buckingham Palace that faces down the Mall is actually the back door, not the front? Whether you're a visitor to the capital, a dailuy commuter or one its 7.5 million inhabitants, this book is an alternative, and often bonkers, guide to the city.