This engagingly narrated account of the development of painting in London from the Second World War to the 1970s takes in the work and lives of Bacon, Freud, Hockney and many others, with publication coinciding with the exhibition 'All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a century of painting life' at Tate Britain from late-February to August.

Martin Gayford is art critic for The Spectator and the author of acclaimed books on Van Gogh, Constable and Michelangelo. He is the author of many books, including Man with a Blue Scarf, Rendez-vous with Art, (with Philippe de Montebello), A Bigger Message, Modernists & Mavericks, A History of Pictures (with David Hockney), The Pursuit of Art and Spring Cannot be Cancelled, all published by Thames & Hudson.

1. 14 Abercorn Place ¿ 2. Pope Francis ¿ 3. Euston Road in Camberwell ¿ 4. The Spirit in the Mass (at Borough Polytechnic) ¿ 5. Girl with Roses ¿ 6. Leaping into the Void ¿ 7. Translating Life into Art: Bacon and Freud in the 50s ¿ 8. Two Climbers Roped Together: Auerbach and Kossoff ¿ 9. An Arena in Which to Act ¿ 10. What Makes the Modern Home so Different? ¿ 11. The Situation in London, 1960 ¿ 12. The Artist Thinks: Hockney and his Contemporaries