Colchester: a history

The Iron-Age capital of King Cunobelin (Shakespeare's Cymbeline), Colchester was the target of the Roman invasion in AD 43.

Where the Emperor Claudius received its submission, the Romans built a legionary fortress, the framework of which still forms the centre of Colchester.

As capital of Roman Britain, Colchester was over-run and burnt by the warrior-queen Boudica (aka Boadicea), then rebuilt and ringed by its famous walls.

After Rome fell and the Saxon incursions began, the Saxon King Edward the Elder made it the leading town in Essex.

The Normans raised its profile higher, when an Abbey, a Priory and a great castle gave it the strategic defence of Eastern England.

It was besieged only once, when King John was in conflict with his barons over Magna Carta.

This authoritative, readable and well illustrated new work will doubtless become the standard work on this ancient town.