Join travel writer Tom Chesshyre in this charming celebration of our favourite green spaces from around the world

People love parks - and more than that, people need parks. We crave greenery, fresh air and birdsong. Whether we're in Colombia or Korea, America or Australia, urban parks are places where we can find calm amid the chaos. They can also (more often than we may realize) conceal intriguing hidden histories, and can tell us something about modern life in our frenzied world, too.

With fondness and humour, travel writer Tom Chesshyre recalls 50 of his favourite urban parks from across the world, in a love letter to the green escapes that bring us joy in our cities.

Tom Chesshyre is the author of thirteen travel books. He has travelled more than 40,000 miles around the world for his train books, which have included Slow Trains Around Spain: A 3,000-Mile Adventure on 52 Rides and Ticket to Ride: Around the World on 49 Unusual Train Journeys. His book writing has also taken him across North Africa after the Arab Spring, round the "dark side" of the Maldives on cargo ships, along the length of the River Thames, around the Lake District on a long hike, and on a journey through "unsung Britain" (for To Hull and Back). He worked on the travel desk of The Times for 21 years and is now freelance, contributing to the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and The New European magazines. He lives in London.