St Albans A history

Mark Freeman’ s classic history of St Albans, first published in 2008, has been substantially rewritten by the author and brought fully up to date, making it an invaluable guide to more than two thousand years of St Albans’ s history.

Mark Freeman is Professor of Social History and Education at University College London. He was born in St Albans and lives in the city. He has written several books on modern British history, including Social Investigation and Rural England 1870-1914 (2003) and The Pageants of St Albans: An Illustrated History (2020).

Preface and acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: Before St Albans: Verlamion and Verulamium In focus (1): The martyrdom of St Alban Chapter 2: Waeclingceaster, Kingsbury and St Albans: the Anglo-Saxon abbey and town In focus (2): Stories from the Anglo-Saxon abbey Chapter 3: Conquest and conflict, 1066-1349 In focus (3): ‘ A marvellous record of the past’ : the intellectual life of the monks of St Albans Chapter 4: From the Black Death to the dissolution of the abbey, 1349-1539 In focus (4): ‘ Stuft full with the Bodies of the Slain’ : the two battles of St Albans Chapter 5: Chartered borough and ‘ thoroughfare town’ 1539-1700 In focus (5): St Albans and the Civil War Chapter 6: ‘ A Divided Town’ : economy, society and government, 1700-1835 In focus (6): ‘ Wrong and unjust’ : St Albans and parliamentary politics, c. 1700-1832 Chapter 7: ‘ A fourth or fifth rate market town’ : Victorian and Edwardian St Albans, 1835-1910 In focus (7): ‘ A small corrupt borough’ : St Albans and parliamentary politics, 1832-1914 Chapter 8: An expanding manufacturing centre, 1910-1945 In focus (8): St Albans and the Second World War Chapter 9: ‘ A terribly smug place’ : St Albans, 1945-2000 In focus (9): ‘ A very musical town’ : St Albans and popular music Chapter 10: ‘ An intricate inheritance’ : St Albans in the early twenty-first century