Ben le Vay's Eccentric Oxford (Bradt Travel Guides (Bradt on Britain))

This new edition of Ben le Vay's irrepressible and irreverent guide to one of the greatest of English cities has been updated and expanded to include even more entertaining tales. There are more civilian/non-academic eccentrics, there is more local history, and there's a particularly fascinating bit of military history about Oxford that even many locals have never heard of. Dreaming spires, honeyed stone, cycling dons ... forget all that tourist twaddle, says Benedict le Vay. Find out the secrets the colleges don't want you to know, the inside track on the best pubs and eating places, the scandal and gossip about nutty professors and disgraceful students past and present, the brilliant stories about the great, the good and the bad. With 8 maps and a mix of colour and black and white illustrations and photographs, this is the essential guide to take you beyond the normal sights.William Morris called Oxford 'a perfect jewel' of a city; Benedict le Vay goes in search of the quirkier gems