This fascinating selection of photographs illustrates the extraordinary transformation that has taken place in Kingston-upon-Thames over the years. The book offers an insight into the daily lives and living conditions of local people and gives the reader glimpses of familiar places during this century of unprecedented change. Many aspects of Kingston's recent history are covered, famous occasions and individuals are remembered and the impact of national and international events is witnessed. Drawing on detailed local knowledge of the community, and illustrated with a wealth of photographs, this book recalls what Kingston-upon-Thames has lost in terms of buildings, traditions and ways of life. It also acknowledges the regeneration that has taken place and celebrates the character and energy of local people as they move through the first years of this new century. This latest edition of the book has been fully updated with new contemporary photography and revised captions.

A Century of Kingston-upon-Thames offers an insight into the daily lives and living conditions of local people and gives the reader glimpses and details of familiar places during a century of unprecedented change. Many aspects of Kingston's recent history are covered, famous occasions and individuals are remembered and the impact of national and international events is witnessed. A Century of Kingston-upon-Thames provides a striking account of the changes that have so altered the town's appearance and records the process of transformation. Drawing on detailed local knowledge of the community, and illustrated with a wealth of black-and-white photographs, this book recalls what Kingston-upon-Thames has lost in terms of buildings, traditions and ways of life. It also acknowledges the regeneration that has taken place and celebrates the character and energy of local people as they move through the first years of this new century.

The south-west London suburb of Surbiton, part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, came into being after a plan to build a London-Southampton rail line took a route somewhat to the south of Kingston. Surbiton Station, originally called Kingston-on-Railway, was opened in 1838 and the suburb grew from there. Formerly within the county of Surrey, Surbiton became part of Greater London in 1965, together with neighbouring Kingston and Richmond. Surbiton has always been a desirable place to live and has attracted some very famous residents, among them writers Thomas Hardy and Enid Blyton; the Pre-Raphaelite painters, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt; and Rupert the Bear artist, Alfred Bestall. Perhaps its greatest claim to fame was as the fictional home of Tom and Barbara Good and their neighbours, the Leadbetters, in the much-loved sitcom The Good Life. The fascinating history of this most suburban of neighbourhoods is captured in this unique selection of old and new images and informative captions, compiled by London author and historian Tim Everson, and is essential reading for anybody who knows and loves Surbiton.