| LONDON BOOKS is an independent publisher which aims to bring old and new fiction together in a tradition that is original in its subject matter, style and social concerns. We believe that the marginalised fiction of the past can be as relevant and exciting today as when it was first published, and our classic reprints will reflect the language and politics of tougher eras, while our new fiction will focus on emerging writers with something to say and a novel way of getting their messages across. |
|
New Fiction
Malayan Swing
Pete Haynes
Classics
They Drive By Night
James Curtis
The Angel And The Cuckoo
Gerald Kersh
|
|
| LONDON CLASSICS |
|
A Start In Life - Alan Sillitoe
London Books is honoured to be republishing this excellent book by Alan Sillitoe, the story of a carefree man who heads to the metropolis in search of a new beginning. From his first novel, Saturday Night And Sunday Morning, to his most recent, A Man Of His Time, Sillitoe has consistently produced quality fiction, and remains one of English literature’s greatest talents. Includes an introduction by DJ Taylor and a preface by the author. MORE>> |
 |
Night And The City - Gerald Kersh
One of the greatest of the so-called London lowlife novels, Night And The City is the work of a a tough, street-wise character, who was also a prolific author, his powers of description matched by his insights into human nature. Gerald Kersh was a familiar face in pre-war Soho, and this fine book doubles as a social document, capturing as it does the colour and excitement of a vanished London. Comes with an introduction by John King. MORE>> |
 |
The Gilt Kid - James Curtis
The debut novel of cult author James Curtis, The Gilt Kid was first published in 1937 and remains as sharp in its dialogue and use of the vernacular as anything around today. Curtis was a maverick talent who never compromised his beliefs, his idealism clearly fuelling his writing. His rediscovery is long overdue and this London Classics edition features an introduction by Paul Willetts, biographer of Julian Maclaren-Ross, and an interview with Nicolette Edwards, the author’s daughter. MORE>> |
|
| MORE LONDON TITLES |
 |
Skinheads - John King
Skinheads looks at modern-day England through the eyes of three generations of one family – original ska-loving skin Terry English; his nephew, Oi Oi street punk Nutty Ray; and Terry’s son, ska-punk teenager Lol. Set in the streets and satellites of West London, Skinheads is a tale of honour and loyalty, its outcome influenced by parallel stories from 1969 and the early 1980s. BUY>> |
 |
The Special Ones - Chelsea by the Fans
The Special Ones covers supporter memories stretching back nearly seventy years and belongs to the people who made Chelsea unique, and is a social document as much as a football book. Individual memories are supplemented by sections on the songs sung over the decades as well as the fanzine movement, opinion and humour expressed in song and print. MORE>> |
 |
North Soho 999 - Paul Willetts
Subtitled A True Story Of Gangs And Gun-Crime In 1940s London, Paul Willetts examines a sixty-year-old robbery-turned-murder, a high-profile case that mirrors many of today’s headlines. Mixing clinical research and eccentric characters, North Soho 999 also presents a vivid glimpse of post-war London – a collision of wide boys, detectives, surgeons, a grieving family and the nation’s hangman. MORE>> |
|
Battersea Girl, by Martin Knight
Drawing on the stories told to him over the years by his grandmother, who survived two world wars, the Depression and several family traumas to reach a hundred years of age, Martin Knight has produced a moving tribute to a remarkable woman and a buoyant, river-working community. Comes recommended by Nell Dunn, author of Up The Junction and Poor Cow. MORE>> |
 |
The Brown Dog Affair - Peter Mason
It is exactly one hundred years since a community in South West London stood up and protested against the vivisection industry, taking on the authorities in a series of street protests that shook the establishment and made front-page headlines across the country. Battersea was once a radical, working-class stronghold and the events recounted in Peter Mason’s The Brown Dog Affair shame our current acceptance of political decision-making. MORE>> |
 |
Common People by Martin Knight
John Hay is one of the Common People. Growing up on the Common council estate in a London suburb in the 1960s and 1970s is at first idyllic. The Beatles, Blue Peter and The Beano fill the senses and soccer, scrumping and splits provide the pastimes. But encounters with the police, paedophiles, pretty girls and bullies soon bring down the curtain on childhood innocence. BUY>> |
|
|
|
