London, 1984. Democracy has given up the ghost. England's ruler is randomly selected, and this year it's Auberon Quin, a clerk with an odd sense of humour. Quinn mandates that each borough of London become an independent neo-medievalist state, complete with costume and armoury. The city bears his practical joke with varying levels of patience - except Adam Wayne, an earnest young man from Notting Hill, who takes his sword in hand and the joke deathly seriously.

Originally published in 1904, G. K. Chesterton's deliciously eccentric novel remains a masterpiece of satire.