I was born in the heart of London’s East End, where the gritty neighbourhoods of Wapping and the West End intersect with the grand commerce of the City. This spiderweb of commerce has been the financial capital of the world since the Middle Ages, yet just beyond the posh centre lies the hardscrabble poverty of London’s working class. From this seat of empire that once ruled the largest domain the world had ever seen, my story begins.
