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Aw thank you!

So, so chuffed that The Boroughs of London is currently filling the window of @dauntbookspub.bsky.social in Marylebone. It’s a real honour. If you can’t get to the shop you can order from them here dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/books/t...

Image of The Boroughs of London by Mike Hall and Matt Brown, a hardback book published by Batsford. It features a colourful front cover design with the title contained within a white circle at the centre, around which radiates an arrangement of 32 segments, each containing a fragment of a different London Borough map.

The Boroughs of London by me and @mattfromlondon.bsky.social is now in the shops (out Oct 21st in North America)! 📚

Here’s a thread on what it’s about, what’s inside, and why - if you love all things London, local history, boundaries, facts, trivia and above all MAPS - you’re in for a treat.

🧵⬇️

The Boroughs of London at 60 I put some words into a book.

I’ve been and done a book, with @thisismikehall.com It’s out now! A cartographic celebration of the 32 London boroughs (plus the Square Mile), with around 350 ideas of places to visit. It’s turned out handsomly (even if I haven’t) open.substack.com/pub/londonis...

Mike Hall, the cover art for The Boroughs of London, and Matt Brown

🚨 London lovers! Come see me and Londonist supremo
@mattfromlondon.bsky.social talk about our new book THE BOROUGHS OF LONDON at Stanfords next month!

📍 Stanfords (@stanfordstravel.bsky.social) 7 Mercer Walk, WC2H 9FA
🗓️ 7pm, Thu 9th October
🎟️ £8.00 (inc 🍷)

➡️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-boroug...

Cover art for The Boroughs of London by Mike Hall and Matt Brown

A detail of a page from The Boroughs of London by Mike Hall and Matt Brown, showing a map of the County of London in 1901 and the former Metropolitan Boroughs

A detail of a page from The Boroughs of London by Mike Hall and Matt Brown, showing text and illustrations including an illustration of a dog

A detail of a page from The Boroughs of London by Mike Hall and Matt Brown, showing various colourful statistical maps of Greater London

🚨 One month to go till THE BOROUGHS OF LONDON by me and @mattfromlondon.bsky.social hits the shops!

Packed with maps and illustrations, learn about London's 32 boroughs, how they came to be, the fascinating places in each, and much more history and trivia besides. Preorder today!

ℹ️ bit.ly/BorosLdn

At the lovely Mercia Marina — supposedly the largest inland marina in Europe — in Derbyshire. Besides the obvious, it has shops, restaurants, a Norse goddess, free bikes, and a Cheese Boat that also sells novelty socks. Idyllic.

Think I’ll pass, cheers. But thanks for the offer

Seems appropriate… #LondonBridge

The Apple Store, Dorset style

Promotional graphic by Waterstones, text reads: 25% OFF On Upcoming Books Pre-order now With code: SUMMER25 28-31 July | Online only Includes an image of the front cover of the book The Boroughs of London by Mike Hall and Matt Brown, published by Batsford in October 2025

Detail from Mike Hall and Matt Brown’s new book, The Boroughs of London, published by Batsford in October 2025, showing the chapter heading and map for Southwark

Detail from Mike Hall and Matt Brown’s new book, The Boroughs of London, published by Batsford in October 2025, showing various colourful maps of Greater London comparing statistics for each borough

Detail from Mike Hall and Matt Brown’s new book, The Boroughs of London, published by Batsford in October 2025, showing a page from the chapter on Wandsworth, including illustrations of a dog, a sewing machine and a bingo card

A reminder that the nice people at Waterstones are offering a 25% discount on preorder copies of me and @mattfromlondon.bsky.social’s new book The Boroughs of London (UK shipping only). Offer ends midnight tomorrow!

➡️ www.waterstones.com/book/the-bor...

A sequel too far?

More for my 9yo, who was wondering if Beethoven was a one-hit wonder with his Ninth.

An explicit version of Beethoven’s Fifth? What? I thought it was the Third that was dubbed the Erotica Symphony

I’m pretty sure the Royal Courts of Justice in London inspired Castle Grayskull

The perils of naming your shop after a living person (these in Southgate and Waltham Forest)

Just gone past my flat. Thanks for the tip-off

Oh, I’m at the back right now. Ping me afterwards if you fancy a pint/coffee

I created a scan of the whole length of the Covid Memorial Wall opposite Westminster Palace!

#London #photogrammetry

3D: skfb.ly/pyuoS

Kids got me this lovely Star Wars pint glass for fathers’ day. And now they’ve gone to bed, can anyone explain what the round blueberry thing is… because I got it in my head that it’s Darth Vader’s sphincter, but I can’t say that out loud.

Spotted in Elstree. Awful and bizarre in equal measure.

Same experience last week for driving licence renewal. Slick as an otter’s coat.

“Ronald Reagan? The escapologist?”. The President’s statue in Grosvenor Square, London is not quite how I remember it.

Loved this whole series of Doctor Who. Triumphant, imaginative, jubilant television. The look of wonderment on my 9yo daughter’s face at the end was priceless. Hope they sort out the behind-the-scenes stuff and come back soon. #doctorwho

What alchemy is this?

Just been served my first £8 pint. In a Sam Smiths pub! It’s not even very nice.

Some interesting photo captioning in the Independent

Reading with my six year old. His answer to this was “Using the Safari browser?”

I adore those AI results that Google insists on placing above traditional search results. Today I learned that Her Majesty was able to ride the London cable car a quarter of a century before it was built. Royal privilege, I guess

Been a while since the Anchor Bankside pub was visible from this angle