Quick Search

 
or
Browse by Subject

Trade Sales

Sale Bargains &
Special Offers

Distributed Titles

Conference Timetable

Request Catalogues

Vacancies at Oxbow

Historic Oxford

by David Sturdy

`More than most cities, Oxford is a theatre, its scenery all standing, the actors taking their parts without being aware of it, or only half aware, as dreams and fantasy are all around.' This wonderful book searches for the historical truth, backed up by archaeological and architectural evidence, behind Oxford's many myths. The `chaotically old-fashioned' Oxford is revealed as comprising a treasure trove of hidden wonders, with its numerous enclosed colleges, while much of the history on display has, in recent years, been defaced by ill-advised conservation or even obliterated. Despite David Sturdy's worrisome conclusion about Oxford's destiny and his sadness that he no longer finds Oxford a pleasant place to wander around, this very readable study celebrates Oxford's churches and monasteries, its colleges, its medieval town buildings, its recycled architecture, its libraries and its Georgian and Victorian masterpieces. Supported by lots of colour photographs of the city as it is today and old drawings or reconstructions of the city as it once was, Sturdy's interesting narrative traces in fascinating detail the history and archaeology of Oxford from its Saxon origins through the university's medieval heyday to the polluted and car-filled streets of today. He finds something of interest even in Cornmarket which `now overcrowded and reviled, ...is one of the most fascinating streets in Europe. 192p, 13 col pls, 90 b/w illus (Tempus 2004)

Browse other 19th Century History books