Though my corner of Hackney has yet to attain a Middle-Earth level of cosmic grandeur, the ongoing battle between local people and the forces of regeneration has been growing in stature.

We’ve got our very own Dark Lord, in the shape of a property developer called Dr Roger Wratten, who has an underground island base in Tunbridge Wells and a henchman with a glass eye.

Ranged against him is a hobbit-like band of local people, who since late November have been barricaded inside Francesca’s cafe at 34 Broadway Market, blocking Wratten from pulling it down to build a block of flats.

SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Communities | Hari Kunzru: A dispatch from Tony’s cafe

Plus see also coverage in the Evening Standard, La Republica, Der Spiegel, Hackney Gazette, you name it…