The History of York

by Patrick Nuttgens

This single volume history of York is written by the nine leading experts in their field and traces the story of this historic town from it beginnings as a Roman garisson to the thriving modern town of the year 2000. Many maps and monochrome pictures make this an attractive book for both the general reader and the more advanced local historian while a full bibliography allows for further study. "As a single volume history of York, it could not be bettered". (York Evening Press).

Genres: History, Nonfiction

438 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2001

Reviews

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 2 out of 5]

The History of York, Yorkshire: From Earliest Times to the Year 2000 is not the most entertaining book about the history of York I could have read. The book is comprised of nine chapters, each written by a different scholarly author. Every chapter covered a different chunk of York/Yorkshire’s history. It is edited by Patrick Nuttgens (who also wrote the last chapter). As a concise, factual account of York’s history, this is a good book. As enjoyable historical reading, this is a terrible book.

It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a book written in such a way that strips all color and interest from history and turns it into a recitation of dry, boring facts. This was a time-consuming, boring read. Here’s a selection:

Some chantry priests, like Peter Glenton, the former Augustinian friar, with a chantry in the Minster and another in St.Helen’s, Stonegate, the former Dominican, Thomas Richardson, who served a chantry in the now redundant church of St. Peter the Little, and the former Franciscan, Ralph Clayton, a chantry priest in St. Mary, Castlegate, found themselves dispossessed for the second time. Thomas Grayson, very probably the son of William Grayson, wiredrawer of York, originally a canon of Newburgh Priory until its surrender in 1539, now lost the chantry he had subsequently acquired in the Minster (158).

It takes forever to read pages and pages of this. I tried skimming, but the whole point of reading the book is to read the actual words. It’s not like there’s a plot to this thing that I could’ve reached sooner by skimming. So while I have increased my knowledge of York, this book in no way could be used to lure tourists to the city. I’d say this book is best used as a reference tool for questions regarding York’s history.

Nuttgens is a terrible editor. Even if I don’t mention the thousands of sentences that could have been rewritten to provide more clarity, that still leaves me with these complaints: Corporation vs. corporation (and what the hell is this mysterious “C/corporation”?), commas not appearing where they should and appearing where they shouldn’t, random sections where the font gets bigger and smaller for no reason at all, repeating phrases (“that islanded that islanded”), and crappy black and white photographs. Nuttgens’s chapter is the worst of the lot, full of weirdly placed commas and awkward writing; I’m guessing his definition of an editor and mine differ. Nuttgens’s chapter is also the only chapter in which I found authorial intrusion. About a fictional man who was in his 90s in the year 2000, Nuttgens wrote: “He would have lived through two world wars and the press and television would have made him an intimate witness to many civil and tribal wars whose cruelty, violence and devastation would surpass the record of previous generations” (303). I think that’s a weird statement coming from a historian, someone quite familiar with the brutality of the past. Human history is full of war, atrocities and cruelty. How we commit those acts has changed, but not our eagerness to commit them. Nuttgens continues: “He would witness a relaxation in dress, in manners and morals, and in relationships between generations” (304). Again, I don’t think 21st century morals are any worse than those Roman emperors with their orgies and the Victorians with their silent porno films. So, c’mon, Nuttgens.

Under a heading titled “Social Conditions,” he does include an interesting survey taken of the poor written by Seebohm Rowntree and published in 1901. Rowntree breaks poverty into two categories: primary and secondary. Primary poverty included those whose “total income was not enough to obtain the minimum necessities of life for mere physical efficiency” (305). These people were described as not being able to take the railway or omnibus, never buy a newspaper or a ticket to a concert, must not write letters because they cannot afford the postage stamp, cannot save money, nor join unions or other clubs, cannot give their children pocket money for marbles or sweets, men cannot enjoy tobacco or beer and women cannot buy new clothes for herself or her children and the wage earners must never miss a day of work. Sounds like a definition of American working poor, right? The secondary poverty category are people who can manage day-to-day living on their wages as long as they don’t spend their money on anything “wasteful.” Which, after reading the long list of things primary poverty doesn’t allow for, I wondered what the hell “wasteful” means to this man. I immediately thought: is he the Jason “poor people don’t have health insurance because they buy iPhones instead” Chaffetz of 20th century York? (FYI, if you Google “Jason Chaffetz is a douchebag,” you do get search results. Ha.)

Overall, this book is a slog. I don’t recommend it for anything other than a reference tool to consult for a research paper on York. The writers sucked all the fun out of reading about history. I’m pretty sure that the actual city will be much more interesting.

[Christopher Daniells · Rating 2 out of 5]

An exceedingly dry account of what could have otherwise been a highly interesting topic.

The first quarter of the book focuses on York inception and Viking history. Whilst the writing style was still quite stilted, the content carried it.

The next half, however, was exceedingly dull, focusing mainly on the varying factions of parish churches and the various homes of aristocrats who are named in passing and never mentioned again. Whilst I appreciate that there is a great deal of importance around York's religious history, especially with the Minster, there surely has to have been many other topics to focus on - ones that would have made for an interesting read. Unless you are a religious historian, much of the detail included in this segment would be of little interest to most.

I never made it to the final quarter as I realised I had already forgotten most of what I had already read.

[Sophia Rigby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really dry. Too many dates and numbers. Disappointingly unengaging.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read the first two chapters dealing with Roman and Anglo-Scandinavian history of the city.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book after seeing York for the first time. Having just been there really made the book come alive.