London is a global city. Four in every 10 people who live in the UK's capital were born overseas - and most arrived in the last ten years. Migration is transforming London for better and for worse.
In This Is London: Life and Death in the World City, acclaimed foreign correspondent Ben Judah turns his reporter's eye on his home city. He immerses himself in the hidden world of Londons immigrants - from Russian oligarchs to Roma beggars - and discovers the complex and varied lives that make London what it is today.
This is London paints a picture of a balkanised and dis-integrated city, where different races and ethnicities often regard each other with suspicion, where extreme wealth is matched by atrocious poverty and the dreams of many migrants are met with disappointment. But accounts of heart-breaking failure are accompanied by stories of hope and the triumph of love.
Ben came to speak at Theos, and answer questions about a city that he found, against his expectations, to be surprisingly religious.
Ben Judah was born in London. He studied at Oxford University and has travelled widely in Russia and Central Asia. His writing has featured in numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Evening Standard and Standpoint. His first book, Fragile Empire, was published by Yale University Press in 2013.
Image by UlyssesThirtyOne via flickr.com under this Creative Commons licence
