London at night has always been seen as a lawless orgy of depravity and pestilence. But has it become as bland and unthreatening as any new town?

In 2006, Sukhdev Sandhu journeyed across the city to find out whether the night has been neutralised by ASBOs and CCTV cameras. His forays saw him prospecting nocturnal London with the people who drive its pulse, from the avian police to security guards, from urban fox-hunters to real-life exorcists. Sandhu waded through the sewers, hung out with fugitive grafitti writers, and accompanied the nuns of Tyburn as they prayed for the souls of Londoners.

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