Address Book [first edition]

A brand new hardback copy. Profile Books 2020, 1st edition 1st printing. 320pp. Starting with a simple question, 'what do street addresses do?', Deirdre Mask travels the world and back in time to work out how we describe where we live and what that says about us. From the chronological numbers of Tokyo to the naming of Bobby Sands Street in Iran, she explores how our address, or lack of one, expresses our politics, culture and technology. It affects our health and wealth, and it can even affect the working of our brains. It's the perfect example of a seemingly insignificant aspect of your life that actually tells you all sorts of things you'd never expect. Perhaps most surprising of all, around 60% of the world's population don't have a street address and that hugely affects their quality of life, from having bank accounts to whether the emergency services are able to reach them. Mask meets the people who live without addresses and those who are trying to change that, a change that isn't always welcome. From Ancient Rome to Kolkata today, from cholera epidemics to tax hungry monarchs, Mask discovers the different ways street names are created, celebrated, and in some cases, banned. Filled with fascinating people and histories, this incisive, entertaining book shows how addresses are about identity, class and race. But most of all they are about power: the power to name, to hide, to decide who counts, who doesn't, and why. We pack our books properly and ship daily from the UK.