‘London Clubland’ launched today

Major new guide to London clubs & club culture

Today is publication day! For the last 18 months, I’ve been working on London Clubland: A Companion for the Curious.

Signing copies for Hatchards on Piccadilly, at the Oscar Wilde desk.

The book came about from the questions I’ve had around my previous books on club history: “It’s all well and good, Seth, telling us about the history of these clubs, but what we’d really like to know more about is ‘Clubland’ today.”

And so the book attempts to offer a comprehensive and entertaining (and sometimes irreverent) 448-page guide to the shape of London Clubland today, including profiles of 133 private members’ clubs currently operating in the capital - 55 historic ones, and 78 new ones. In fact, it’s so up-to-date that it includes a couple of clubs that haven’t opened yet, and one that closed down just as we were going to press.

Simon Pearsall’s affectionate cartoons are sprinkled throughout the book.

I was keen that the book should look distinctive, so it includes some fabulous cartoons from Private Eye/New Statesman/Spectator/Oldie cartoonist Simon Pearsall, and half-a-dozen wonderful up-to-date specially-commissioned Clubland maps, from cartographer and graphic designer David Andrassy. The latter corresponds to an extremely detailed appendix, listing hundreds of central London addresses that have been clubs past and present - so you can plan your own historical walking tours.

More generally, it is a book of two halves. The first couple of hundred pages constitute a comprehensive listing of every London club, including a list of facilities, vital statistics around things like reciprocation, things they do and don’t want you to know about them, and a short potted history of each establishment.

The second half of the book is an esoteric almanac of just about everything you could ever conceivably want to know about club culture, including items like:

• A guide to how to go about joining a club;

• The common personality types found across Clubland;

• A Clubland architectural guide;

• The club memberships of every British Prime Minister since 1721;

• How Who’s Who suggests the notability of each club;

• Food and drink recipes you will seldom find outside of Clubland.

They are all here, along with many, many more colourful surprises. I doubt most people will read it from cover-to-cover; but I very much hope it will be an entertaining guidebook and reference work to dip into. And I hope it will be useful to anyone thinking of paying a visit to London Clubland.

Yes, Minister co-writer Jonathan Lynn’s verdict on my last book has been my mantra in writing this:

“Hugely entertaining and full of stuff I didn't know I wanted to know, but I now do know, and I'm delighted by it.”

So eagerly awaited was the book, that it technically sold out its entire print run last week, 8 days before publication, from the pre-orders alone - though a fresh printing has been ordered, and these new copies will be on sale from tomorrow.

The book will be launched at a historic London club tonight.

Where can you find copies?

• Hatchards on Piccadilly has a table full of them, by the main entrance, which I pre-signed.

• Heywood Hill in Mayfair, who were very supportive of my last book, calling it one of their “10 best books of the year.”

• John Sandoe in Chelsea, who supply many of the club libraries.

• Waterstones Piccadilly is keeping a table full of them on the ground floor, as a “recommended” choice by their London section, which I have pre-signed.

• And if you want to support a small local community bookshop, the good folk at West End Lane Books in West Hampstead are always lovely, and I’ve pre-signed copies for them.

Each of these bookshops also offers mail order options. You can also visit the publisher’s page for the book, with links to online booksellers from whom you can order it.

(A US edition of the book will be available from 26th August, but American readers can import early copies of the book from any of the above.)

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You can view the full and varied backlog of Clubland Substack articles, by clicking on the index below.