A History of York in 101 People, Objects and Places

by Paul Chrystal

An accessible and dippable history of York told by 101 significant objects, people and places.

York historian Paul Chrystal takes you on a unique journey of discovery through some of the less well-known, more surprising stories connected with York, just as if you were ambling at a leisurely pace along the city’s gates (streets), through the bars (gates) and in and out of the snickelways (alleys), coming across this, that or the other.

Hear about the poet Shelley – one of the few visitors underwhelmed by the majesty of the Minster;  about crazy George Frederick Sitwell who ended his days in the York Lunatic Asylum, and about the bizarre (to say the very least) marriage of Arthur Munby and Hannah Cullwick. Hear also of Viking berserker Ivar the Boneless; read about ‘The Phoenix’ and the Black Babies, the Mansion House and its Edgar Allen Poe-like dead cat; about a woman sold cheap in Pavement. Be regaled by doom knockers, doom windows and doom stones; with the Sigismund sword and with Captain Tom Moore’s funeral sword; with exploding bananas and with stories of the Rowntree family you would not expect from such devout Quakers.

Full colour throughout, with attractive images of the people, objects and places covered and entertaining text from York’s best-known historian.

This is a flagship local history guide to York equally aimed at locals and the many tourists visiting the city each year.

September 2023