The Blue Riband

Peter York, co-author of the 80s bestseller, The Sloane Ranger Handbook, charts the progress of the dream of grandeur and aspiration in London - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground, as Tfl celebrates 150 years of the Tube with Penguin

Also available in a boxset

'Authors include the masterly John Lanchester, the children of Kids Company, comic John O'Farrell and social geographer Danny Dorling. Ranging from the polemical to the fantastical, the personal to the societal, they offer something for every taste. All experience the city as a cultural phenomenon and notice its nature and its people. Read individually they're delightful small reads, pulled together they offer a particular portrait of a global city' Evening Standard

'Exquisitely diverse' The Times

'Eclectic and broad-minded ... beautifully designed' Tom Cox, Observer

'A fascinating collection with a wide range of styles and themes. The design qualities are excellent, as you might expect from Penguin with a consistent look and feel while allowing distinctive covers for each book. This is a very pleasing set of books' A Common Reader blog

'The contrasts and transitions between books are as stirring as the books themselves ... A multidimensional literary jigsaw' Londonist

'A series of short, sharp, city-based vignettes - some personal, some political and some pictorial ... each inimitable author finds that our city is complicated but ultimately connected, full of wit, and just the right amount of grit' Fabric Magazine

'A collection of beautiful books' Grazia

Peter York is one of the UK's leading strategic researchers. As Peter York, the writer, author and broadcaster on social styles and trends, he writes regularly for the Independent and other broadsheets. His books include co-authoring the 80s bestseller The Sloane Ranger Handbook and Dictators' Homes. His latest BBC documentary, 'The Rise and Fall of the Ad-Man', was shown on BBC2 in 2011. He is a Visiting Professor of the University of the Arts London. His latest book Jim Lee: Arrested will be published in May 2012.