'Original and beautifully written' GUARDIAN

Gillian Darley takes us on a vivid, personal tour, from the seaside piers to the empty marshes and the New Town tower blocks, revealing a landscape and a story like no other.

Alongside Essex Man and TOWIE, there's the Essex that nurtured the first Puritan settlers in America, that welcomed refugees from Europe, fugitives from the underworld and bombed-out EastEnders. Where dreamers and makers, punk poets, anarchist sects and inventors all found inspiration.

A Colchester nurseryman was the first to trade with a secretive Eastern Kingdom. Braintree's only earthquake inspired an innovative building system. In Epping, a spat over firewood led to an historic victory for the common people. In Essex, the clash between city and countryside, capital and province, created a shower of sparks that ultimately set the world on fire.

Drawing on everything from early maps to reality TV, Excellent Essex is no guide book, but a wonderful guide to England's most misunderstood county.