FIRST published in 1953, the re-issued Middlesex, by Michael Robbins, was regarded in its time as the most comprehensive history of an English county ever attempted in a single volume.

Middlesex is often dismissed as a large and featureless suburb, and few people know much about its fascinating past.

Yet it has a history crammed with important events and famous characters, from Julius Caesar at Brentford to Winston Churchill at Harrow.

The book is an in-depth survey of the development of Middlesex, with a lively gazetteer of all the places that make up the county, from Acton to Yiewsley.

It includes a long and detailed section on the history of Harrow, which is one of the largest and most populous districts in Middlesex.

Michael Robbins had a lifelong love of the county of his birth, and tramped many miles along Middlesex roads researching and writing this book, believing there was no other way of getting to know the place.

Born in Hendon in 1915, he went to his first school in Middlesex, and, although he was not a professional historian, he immersed himself in history during his long and active life.

He held a variety of important posts in Middlesex and London, including the presidency of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, chairmanship of the Middlesex Council of the Victoria County History, and the presidency of the Society of Antiquaries.

Fully indexed, referenced and containing line maps, population tables, an updated bibliography, diagrams and photographs, the new edition of Michael Robbin's Middlesex remains the standard work on the county.

Middlesex, by Michael Robbins, is published by Phillimore at £17.99 (paperback).