Ealing, once known as the ` Queen of the Suburbs`, has had a long & varied history. Once a country town in Middlesex, the area became part of the City of London in 1965 & celebrates its fiftieth anniversary as a London borough in 2015. This is the first book to chart the history of Ealing from earliest times to the dawn of the twenty-first century. It draws on many sources, including contemporary diaries, newspapers, parish & borough archives. The reader will learn about the many changes in Ealing as it moved from being part of a manor belonging to the bishop of London to being an independent entity, going on to absorb neighbouring parishes & boroughs in the twentieth century. In Ealing: A Concise History, author Jonathan Oats discusses both the built environment of open spaces, churches, shops & pubs as well as the district`s residents, from little-known diarists, criminals & politicians to key local personalities who played their part in shaping its history. The impact of outside events, such as civil war, plague & the world wars are also explored in this fascinating insight into the history of the West London borough.