London Clay

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

What secrets lie beneath a city?

Tom Chivers follows hidden pathways, explores lost islands and uncovers the geological mysteries that burst up through the pavement and bubble to the surface of our streets. From Roman ruins to a submerged playhouse, from an abandoned Tube station to underground rivers, Chivers leads us on a journey into the depths of the city he loves.

A lyrical interrogation of a capital city, a landscape and our connection to place, London Clay celebrates urban edgelands: in-between spaces where the natural world and the metropolis collide. Through a combination of historical research, vivid reportage and personal memoir, it will transform how you see London, and cities everywhere.

'Tom Chivers, with the forensic eye of an investigator, the soul of a poet, is an engaging presence; a guide we would do well to follow.' Iain Sinclair, author of The Last London

'It's entertaining, enlightening and deeply moving. You will learn something about London and a good deal about life.' Justin Webb

© Tom Chivers 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

  • Will open readers’ eyes to what is around and below them … Its delight in exploration is matched by a thoughtful meditation on grief.

    Economist

  • Periodic surprises even for the most dedicated student of this subject … movingly written.

    Spectator

  • Incredible … More than a simply a cracking read, it’s a book that will inspire you to go out and make your own discoveries. You’ll never look at the city in the same way again.

    Londonist

  • London Clay by Tom Chivers, is perfect. He brings a poet’s sensibility to this prose nonfiction book about the hidden parts of the capital, mixing the past with the present, the known with the unknown and his personal story with social history and geology.

    Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other

  • [Chivers] combines the modern phenomenon of psycho-geographer with the ancient trade of poet …
    Action-packed, erudite… an audiobook to savour slowly.

    The Times

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