A Traveller’s History of Oxford

Richard Tames read history at Cambridge and took his Master's Degree at the University of London. He was Head of External Services at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

A Traveller's History of Oxford gives the reader a clear account of Oxford's earliest beginnings from Roman times, its Anglo-Saxon past, its importance in medieval England, the founding of the different colleges, its status as Royalist capital during the Civil War and after this crisis, and its recovery and continuing growth right up to the twenty-first century. The book also looks closely at the story behind the beautiful buildings and discusses Oxford's gifts to the world both in the alumni, which include five kings, 25 British Prime Ministers, 36 Nobel Prize winners, and 85 archbishops, and in the world of ideas: the legends of King Arthur, the English Bible, Anglicanism, the Royal Society, Methodism, Pre-Raphaelites, Alice and Wonderland, Aestheticism, OED, Inspector Morse, ...The list is endless. It also has practical information, illustrated with maps, on exploring the town and a Chronology of Events.