The extraordinary story of an influential school that in its short life - 1870-1995 - progressed through an astonishing sequence of phases.

Established as a fee-paying grammar by the Grocers' Company, Hackney Downs became one of London's leading schools, achieving outstanding academic results.

After a disastrous fire in 1963, the school converted early and successfully to comprehensive.

During the 1980s, for political and demographic reasons, the school declined rapidly to become 'the worst school in the country'.

In 1995, after months of inspection, disruption and protest, the school was summarily closed by the government.

Distinguished alumni include Harold Pinter, Steven Berkoff, Sir Michael Caine, artist Leon Kossoff, entrepreneur John Bloom and former head of Mossad, Efraim Halevy - giving rise to the sobriquet 'Jewish Eton'.

This balanced history combines institutional records with former pupils' personal stories.

A popular micro-history of secondary education in London, with vivid accounts of wartime evacuation, anti-Semitism, cultural achievement, curriculum innovation, classroom challenges and political conflict.