Books celebrate Oxford's collegiate and industrial heritage

Tutors Liz Woolley and Hubert Pragnell are this summer's Tutor Spotlight Authors. Their recent books showcase Oxford from radically different viewpoints.

Oxford in Watercolours by Art History tutor Hubert Pragnell features features over 35 lovely colour views of our fair city, with accompanying text to lend historical and architectural background. Scenes include colleges, streetscapes and Oxford events. Mr Pragnell, who studied fine art at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, knows and loves Oxford, and this shows in his delightful book.

Oxford's Working Past, by History tutor Liz Woolley, explores a very different Oxford - the development of the city's small industries during the period of great economic, social, and technological change of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. A growing 19th century affluence sparked demand for goods and services, and made way for the establishment of light industries such as clothing manufacture, jam-making, brewing, milling and boat building, to name but a few. The book is arranged into three walking tours which take the reader to some of central Oxford's most beloved and interesting non-collegiate sites.

Both books are on display and for sale in Rewley House reception.

For those who are unable to come to Oxford, these books are available online: Oxford's Working Past is available from the publisher, Huxley Scientific Press. Oxford in Watercolours is available from Oxbow Books.

Published 15 June 2012