| 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. While our foundation is the real London of everyday men and women, there are no boundaries, no limitations to what we will publish.
The London Books website is intended as more than a shop front. We will push the books and authors we respect and feature a regular, changing column, while our News & Chat will be open to everyone and encourage debate. We believe books can be fun, but that good writing is important, and should reflect our culture –past, present and future. |
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| LONDON TITLES |
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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>>
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A Start In Life, by Alan Sillitoe
Michael Cullen is a schemer who leaves Nottingham – and his pregnant girlfriend – behind, and heads off to London, soon charming the women of the Sixties capital. But when he finds work with Moggerhanger, he discovers a tougher, darker edge to the city. Includes a new introduction by Alan Sillitoe. MORE>> |
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The Gilt Kid by James Curtis
Released from prison, The Gilt Kid is soon struggling to survive under a system that doesn’t always spread its justice evenly. James Curtis captures the excitement of the pre-war London streets with his vibrant use of vernacular, his word-play as exciting as anything around today. Features an introduction by Paul Willetts, biographer of Julian Maclaren-Ross. MORE>>
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Night and The City by Gerald Kersch
First published in 1938, and set in the tough, exotic Soho of the Thirties, Night And The City focuses on wannabe Harry Fabian, a failure whose morals fade as his desperation increases. Flush with off-beat characters and up-beat slang, and reflecting the author’s knowledge of lowlife Soho, this London Books edition includes an introduction by Paul Duncan, who is currently working on Kersh’s biography. MORE>> |
| LONDON FAVOURITES |
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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>> |
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The Prison House, by John King
John King's most recent novel is a surreal journey through the thoughts and experiences of Jimmy Ramone, a drifter imprisoned in a foreign prison for a crime which doesn't become clear until the final pages. MORE>> |
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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. With his friends from the estate, John passes through comprehensive school and out into the world of work. Experiences with drink, drugs, petty crime and hooliganism quickly follow, and the boys enter a lifestyle of sustained nihilism. BUY>> |
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