THIS IS LONDON

(Picador £9.99)

BEN JUDAH is a journalist and war correspondent who has reported from Russia, Tunisia and Central Asia.

But in this book, he brings an outsider’s eye to home territory, joining the migrants who make up almost 40 per cent of London’s population.

In an account with echoes of George Orwell’s Down And Out In Paris And London, he explores a city populated by Poles, Romanians, Afghans, Somalis, Filipinos, Ghanaians — a kaleidoscope of nationalities which nevertheless remain largely fixed within their own cultural enclaves.

While he has a vivid — sometimes florid — narrative voice, Judah is a great listener, and the stories of gangsters, streetwalkers, cleaners, policemen, rough sleepers, teachers and the occasional Arab or Russian princess are the authentic conversations of a hidden London.

Often bleak, sometimes beautiful, this is a remarkable account of the secret life of a city.