This episode contains strong language.

Welcome to the Guardian. This episode contains strong language.

Welcome to The Guardian Long Reed, showcasing the best long-form journalism

covering culture, politics and new thinking.

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hippie capitalist guru gross, the forgotten genius who changed British food, by Jonathan Nun. If you were a young person living in London in the early 1970s and you were looking for a bargain,

the word of Nicholas Saunders was something close to holy scripture.

Whatever you thought, Saunders had the answer.

If you wanted to start an anarchist squat or self-publish a Trotskyist pamphlet, you consulted Nicholas Saunders.

If you wanted to know how much a gram of cocaine should cost, or where to get free legal advice if you were arrested, you

consulted Nicholas Saunders. If you wanted to find out how to unblock a drain without

calling a plumber, which supermarkets were cheaper for which goods,

or how to fly all the way to India on a ticket to Frankfurt, you consulted Nicholas Saunders. A small man with a wild beard that gave him the look of a shaman,

Saunders was

changing the ancient city around him.

In 1970, at the age of 32, he self-published his findings in a slim but dense guidebook called

Alternative London. The book was testament to Saunter's belief that information should be made

available to all. and that this information

should be rigorously tested.

For the section on abortions, Saundres had a friend phone up each provider in the city, in the process uncovering a London wide

scam of clinics that marketed themselves as cheap, but in reality were charging over double

...