This is the history of Oxford as you have never encountered it before! The first historical record of Oxford laments that the city has been burnt to the ground by Vikings. Its religious houses were founded by a woman who blinded her would-be attacker. Its students were povery-stricken desperados in perpetual armed conflict with the townsmen. One of its principle colleges, meanwhile, doubled as a slaughterhouse - and its richest streets and University edifices backed on to some of the most pestilential slums in England. With a mangled skeleton in every cupboard, this is the real story of Oxford. Read it if you dare!

Paul Sullivan has been a writer and editor since graduating in English language and literature. He works with websites and blogs to popular books and academic papers, local history and folklore being his specialist areas. He compiled and presented festivals and customs weekly guides for BBC Radio in the 1990s, leading to the acclaimed book Maypoles, Martyrs and Mayhem (Bloomsbury). He has written books in total, including eight for The History Press. He has recently moved back to his native Lincolnshire.