Freeman, Mark | St Albans

Broché couverture souple illustrée en couleurs ; nombreuses illustrations en noir et couleurs en pages intérieures ; état quasi neuf ; Livre en anglais ; This book covers more than 2,000 years of history since St Albans—or Verulamium—was one of the largest and most important towns in Roman Britain and the site of Britain’s first Christian martyrdom and after the fall of the Roman town a small community of Christians remained and out of the dark ages emerged St Albans abbey one of the most significant religious houses of medieval England however the history of later medieval St Albans was dominated by conflict between the abbey and the civic authorities as the monks repeatedly thwarted the ambitions of the townspeople and it was only after the dissolution of the abbey that St Albans was able to secure self-government while this book traces the evolution of urban government in St Albans and the people’s experiences of the political upheavals that beset England in this period and like many other towns St Albans was touched by the Wars of the Roses the civil war and many lesser conflicts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the economic importance of St Albans as a "thoroughfare town" on a main road north from London grew and St Albans also became a centre of straw-plaiting while at the other end of the social scale the town was known as a centre of political bribery and corruption in modern times St Albans has grown substantially along with other towns in the commuter belt and extended suburban housing development was made possible by the railway which arrived in 1858 and the spread of car ownership while St Albans—which became a city in 1877—has been described as "a terribly smug place" but has much to recommend it not least the long and varied history which has itself remained an important theme in the city’s cultural life and the book deals with all aspects of the history of St Albans but is particularly concerned with the economic and social life of the city where two themes stand out the constant economic political and cultural pull of London and the ways in which St Albans has promoted and been influenced by its own past while St Albans: A History is illustrated with more than 200 images most in full colour. (16D6)"