Ian Nairn

Nairn taught readers to notice ordinary places. His 1955 special issue of the Architectural Review, Outrage, coined the word subtopia for the bland sprawl of car parks, wires and signs swallowing British towns, and his guides Nairn's London and Nairn's Towns describe pubs, railway arches and back streets with a passion usually reserved for cathedrals. His BBC series Nairn Across Britain, filmed in the 1970s, shows him in front of the buildings he loved and hated. Read Nairn's London with the book in your pocket, and many entries still guide a walk.