Dr Victor Morgan is Lecturer in History, University of East Anglia. Professor Christopher Brooke is Dixie Professor Emeritus of Ecclesiastical History, University of Cambridge.

• List of illustrations; General editor's preface; Preface; 1. Cambridge saved; 2. The buildings of Cambridge; 3. The constitutional revolution of the 1570s; 4. Cambridge University and the state; 5. Cambridge and parliament; 6. Cambridge and 'the country'; 7. A local habitation: gownsmen and townsmen; 8. Heads, leases and masters' lodges; 9. Tutors and students; 10. The electoral scene in a culture of patronage; 11. The electoral scene and the court: royal mandates 1558–1640; 12 Learning and doctrine, 1550–1660; 13. Cambridge and the puritan revolution; 14. Cambridge and the scientific revolution; 15. The syllabus, religion and politics, 1660–1750; 16. Epilogue; Bibliographical references.

'The range and scholarship are impressive, and the vast amount of data here encapsulated adds substantially to our understanding of many of the essential strands of Cambridge's development. … This volume will undoubtedly serve as a vital source of reference for the long-term future for all scholars with a professional interest in the selection of themes here examined and also for the informed general reader with a penchant for university history.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History