Do Not Pass Go

A nice idea, this: a jaunt around the streets of London immortalised on the Monopoly board, looking back to their hectic heydays as well as at the present state of them, with a little bit of Monopoly history and folklore thrown in for good measure.

Moore is a self-confessed fanatic of the game; anyone who played Monopoly for hours on end as a youngster (or still does as a not-so youngster) will recognise his descriptions of bitter disputes over title deeds, the mysterious disappearance of £100 notes from the Bank, illogical attachments to the least profitable properties, and eleventh-hour deals with hovering, acquisitive, so-called 'friends'.

Strangely, though, he is often at a loss to explain just why Waddington's chose the streets they did for the London edition of the game. The 'oranges' are linked by a legal theme, but why include insignificant Vine Street at all? As for the 'light blues', well, The Angel, Islington was a pub, not a street, and in Finsbury, not Islington.

London has one of the greatest histories of any city, and Moore has peppered his text with a rich selection of amusing and interesting anecdotes. He is very funny about his visit to Waterworks, the attractively named Crossness Southern Outfall Works, and spends a crazy day in an electric car attempting Free Parking wherever he can, especially in the full view of traffic wardens.

Despite Moore's good humour, the sad fact remains that much of London is a shadow of its former self. Old Kent Road, once the great Roman Watling Street, now comprises mostly boarded-up retail premises, Park Lane is a six-lane highway, and gone are the famous Lyon's Corner Houses.

But don't let that put you off this book. Tim Moore is like Peter Ackroyd with jokes. His curiosity about the city he has lived in all his life is infectious, and his ability to find the funny side of just about everything transforms Do Not Pass Go into something much more than a novelty book about Monopoly.