The Napoleon of Notting Hill

London, 1984. England has given up on democracy and selects its rulers by lottery. This time, it is the turn of clerk Auberon Quin, a prankster who decrees that each borough of London become an independent mediaeval state, complete with costumes and coats of arms.

The citizens bear his joke with varying levels of patience – until Adam Wayne, the intractable Provost of Notting Hill, sword in hand, takes the game far too seriously.

Key Highlights:

• Setting: A dystopian London in 1984, where democracy is abandoned.
• Plot: A clerk-turned-ruler imposes mediaeval traditions on modern London.
• Conflict: The satire escalates when one man, Adam Wayne, takes the decree literally.

First published in 1904, G. K. Chesterton's deliriously eccentric debut novel is a wild, topsy-turvy satire on a land ruled by fools.