Jonn Elledge – the writer who took me through the history of the world in 47 borders back in January 2025 for the 131st dinner interview – has a new book and a U.K. tour to go with it.
We met at Bellanger in London to discuss “A (Brief) History of the World in 47 Borders.” It was his second book, following 2021’s “The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything.” Over cocktails and a crab linguine, he walked me through the genesis of the borders book, his years at the New Statesman and how a friend’s brush with mortality pushed him to finally write a novel.
Now Jonn is back with a follow-up: “A Brief History of Cities in 32 Inventions” (published in the UK as “31 Inventions That Built Our World”), out October 13. It promises: “From elevators to electric lighting, parks to pedestrian crossings, he guides us through the history of civilisation itself.”
Jonn’s heading out on tour across the UK this September and October:
- Waterstones Kensington (September 3)
- Backstory, London (September 7)
- Waterstones Birmingham (September 8)
- Waterstones Nottingham (September 9)
- Topping & Company, St Andrews (September 12)
- Waterstones York (September 11)
- Waterstones Edinburgh (September 14)
- Waterstones Basingstoke (September 18)
- Waterstones Cardiff (September 23)
- Waterstones Bristol (September 24)
- Blackwell’s, Oxford (October 9)
- Waterstones Liverpool (October 15)
- Dorchester Literary Festival (October 22)
Full event details and tickets are available here.