Coming to Terms

In 1673, someone whose name we do not know wrote a small pamphlet called Animadversions on Two Late Books. A printer identified only as A.C ran it off for the London bookseller William Hensman. It is an unremarkable piece, but attempts sage advice: 'Do not go to Cambridge, Sir, there are Alehouses, in which you will be drunk. There are Tennis-courts, and Bowling Greens that will heat you to an excess, and then you will drink cold small Beer and die. There is a River too, in which you will be drowned; and you will study yourself into a consumption, or break your Brain."" A remarkable read; part memoir, part history, part social portrait, which captures the very essence of the city and university of Cambridge. Wide-ranging and eclectic, erudite and accessible, it introduces a varied cast of characters who have helped give Cambridge its special charm, from High Table to Low Fen. It ranges from the visits of Samuel Pepys and Daniel Defoe to Vladimir Nabokovs time at Trinity, by way of the religious turmoil of the seventeenth century and the wild-fowling prowess of college porters. Whether you are a first-time visitor or Cambridge has been your home for life, there will be plenty to amuse and surprise. There are jokes Donnish ones, of course and some college secrets are spilled: but it offers far more than a guide-book compendium. The author has lived and worked in the city since arriving from the North of England more than half a century ago, and combines the eye of an outsider with the love for a place he has made his home. Whether it is the way religion has shaped Cambridges past, or the future prospects for this ever-expanding World City, Coming to Terms is our guide.

In 1673, cineva al carui nume nu il cunoastem a scris un mic pamflet numit Animadversions on Two Late Books. O imprimanta identificata doar ca AC a fugit-o pentru librarul londonez William Hensman.