Lancaster, the county town of Lancashire, stands at the lowest bridging point of the River Lune. A chartered borough since 1193 and a city since 1937, it has had a long and turbulent history. Since the Roman army first saw the strategic possibilities of a low hill by the river it has housed garrisons and acted as a fortress. Its position on the main west-coast road to and from Scotland has on numerous occasions led to the passage of hostile armies.

As county town and seat of the Assizes it has seen all the principal criminal cases for Lancashire tried in its magnificent Castle over the last eight centuries. Next to the Castle in a typical juxtaposition of Church and State stands the Priory church with its own history running back some twelve or thirteen centuries.

In this book, based wherever possible on original sources, such as the rich resources of the borough records or the local newspapers, the author takes a thematic approach. In ten chapters he examines themes such as 'House and Home', 'Working for a Living' and 'Where do you come from?', the last of which is a study of all the people who over the centuries have come from other countries to live in Lancaster.