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Oxford (Paperback)

by Jan Morris (Author) "Fifty years ago, if you stood beneath the western escarpment of the Chiltern Hills, you could sometimes see the smoke of London drifting through the..." (more)

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 282 pages
Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; 3 edition (31 May 2001)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0192801368
ISBN-13: 978-0192801364
Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.2 cm

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 73,395 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#11 in Books > Science & Nature > Earth Sciences & Geography > Geography > Regional

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Product Description

'Few cities,' Jan Morris observes, 'have been much more loved, loathed, and celebrated.' This book has become a classic account of the character, history, mores, buildings, climate, and people of one of Britain's most fascinating cities. 'A book of outstanding excellence, with a sweep of knowledge and a distinction of style such as I have never before encountered in a work of this sort ... Brilliant alike in observation and imagination ... brings the very stones of Oxford to life' Sunday Telegraph.

About the Author

Jan Morris is a highly distinguished writer of travel books, her career spanning over 30 years. She is an Honorary Fellow of the University College of Wales. Her many publications include: Venice (1960), The Pax Brittania Trilogy (1968), The Oxford Book of Oxford (1978), and The Matter of Wales (1984). She has also written a novel Last Letters from Hav, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize.

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First Sentence
Fifty years ago, if you stood beneath the western escarpment of the Chiltern Hills, you could sometimes see the smoke of London drifting through the Goring Gap. Read the first page

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	49% buy the item featured on this page: Oxford 3.8 out of 5 stars (4) �6.48
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	8% buy Oxford: More Than a Guide (Jarrold City Guides) �5.39

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extravagant, captivating, brilliant, 19 May 2006

By	T. P. Ang (Singapore) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jan Morris writes in a style that either immediately captivates or becomes increasingly wearisome to the reader. Fortunately, my experience belongs to the former category. Few writers could capture the wonder of one of England's oldest and most famous cities with such panache. Having lived in and experienced Oxford first hand, Morris captures perfectly some of my sentiments towards the place that I could never dream of putting down in words.

The writing does border on the extravagant at times, but then again, what would a good piece of travel writing be without a little self-indulgence on the part of the author?

Most people would also criticise the book for its arbitrariness. But the book was never intended to be a travel guide and one would be sorely disappointed if one were to read it as such. Neither was the book ever meant as an authoritative history of the place, or anything of the like.

Not a piece of writing that would suit everyone's taste. But if you're looking to enjoy some lucid prose that conjures up vivid images of Oxford's long history, eccentric traditions and wonderfully diverse inhabitants, then you'd be sure to find this a delightful read.

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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent book on Oxford, 6 May 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Oxford (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

an intellectually dense work based upon an exhaustive review of the city both physically and on paper, but presented with a spirit that enthuses and captivates. A book that anyone who has studied, lived or is curious about Oxford should read.

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8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perspicacious on the past, but loses focus on the future., 22 Jan 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Oxford (Oxford Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This book is a marvellous combination of evocative description and encyclopaedic knowledge. I inherited my copy from my mother's belongings, but did not look at it till a visiting Cambridge friend dipped into it and told me how wonderful it was. I could hardly put it down. I had been an undergraduate at Oxford, and it brought back those heady days. I remember walking through narrow attic rooms beating the bounds of St Mary's; listening to the ethereal sounds of the choir singing from Magdalen Tower at 6.0 a.m. on May Morning; and the more earthly sound of the dawn chorus in Wytham Woods. And yet, this book made me feel guilty for walking through the fields in gloves, missing so much and so much. We led confined and routine lives as female students, seeing only a fraction of Oxford. We were not allowed inside the men's colleges, except for the occasional lecture, or an afternoon visit to a male friend. We never explored further than our bicycles would take us, and the crammed eight week terms allowed little time for the extramural interests that so absorbed Jan Morris. Her book compensates for what I missed. The author is superb on the past, but her sure touch begins to falter in the later chapters when she comes to the present and the future. For her, Oxford was the heart of England, and England was the heart of the world. Yet by 1987 (the third edition), this was no longer true. She laments the decline, but seems unaware of the extent of it. Despite her Welsh background, she regards England as synonymous with Britain. She suggests that moving the seat of government 56 miles from Westminster to Oxford might have prevented the dominance of the south-east of England over the whole country. Newcastle would have been a more sensible suggestion, to placate the Scots who had voted marginally in favour of devolution in the 1979 referendum. But times have moved on: The Queen speaks Estuary English; an Oxford accent and an Oxford degree are no longer a passport to privileged jobs; Scotland has its own Parliament; and England's influence, both within the UK and abroad, has declined. It will be interesting to see whether Morris faces up to these issues in her forthcoming edition of 2001.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Pretentious, opinionated and useless as a source book.
If you are looking for a detailed guide to Oxford, don't bother with this book. It is the author's personal - rather idiosyncratic - view of the city. Read more

Published on 17 Sep 2001 by I. Saunders

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