Kew is famous for its great Botanic Gardens and those who created them. Historians know it too as the home of Tudor kingmakers, of Georgian kings and of the artists that followed in their train. This book naturally gives due weight to these great historic figures, but it also explores and illustrates the lives of Kew's less famous inhabitants - from the fishermen and market gardeners of the past to the shopkeepers and commuters of the 21st century. Though awash with flowers and beautiful buildings, Kew is a village that wears its history lightly on its shoulders. It is as proud of its neat houses and tree-lined streets as it is of the great estates on which they are built.

The story of how Kew grew is a dramatic one and is complemented in this book by a rich choice of pictures, prints, maps and photographs that take the reader all the way from medieval Kew to Kew as it is today. This second edition includes a wealth of new material on Kew that has surfaced over the last ten years, such as the details of Leicester's banquet for Queen Elizabeth, the house where Gainsborough lived, the road across Kew Green and the history of Kew's families of watermen and lightermen. It now also includes references to the origins of almost every road within the village.