The Address Book

More about the book

A single street address can tell a story. But what can the idea of an address tell us about the world? From the chronological numbers of Tokyo to Bobby Sands Street in Iran, from cholera epidemics to tax-hungry monarchs, Deirdre Mask uncovers the ways streets are created, changed, celebrated or disputed. This book travels around the world and back in time to reveal the hidden meanings of how we describe where we live -- and what that says about us. Behind addresses are histories or identity, race, class and power: the power to name, to hide, to decide who counts, who doesn't, and why