Alice's Adventures In Wonderland Lewis Carroll
(“Essential guide to inner Oxford and childhood as seen from the mind of a young mathematics Don in the late 19th century. Ditto Alice Through The Looking Glass.”)
Gaudy Night Dorothy L Sayers
(“Set in an around a women's college in Oxford. However, as a caveat, I would not recommend that anyone read this as an introduction to Lord Peter.”)
Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
(“Gets better every time you read it.”)
"St. Barnabas, Oxford" John Betjeman
(Betjeman's poem is a literary fingerpost to one of Oxford's famous churches. You'll also find St. Barnabas in the works of Thomas Hardy, Evelyn Waugh, Joanna Trollope and Colin Dexter.)
The Beekeeper's Apprentice Laurie R King
(Google this author and novel for a series of Oxford treats!)
Where The Rivers Meet John Wain
(“Wain's sprawling trilogy is concerned with both town and gown in the middle
of the twentieth century. 'Town' shouldn't be overlooked!”)
The House In Norham Gardens Penelope Fitzgerald
(“Children's novel by prize-winning St. Anne's author,
set just across the Banbury Road from the College. Memorably atmospheric.”)
Zuleika Dobson Max Beerbohm
(“Delicious comedy of flirtation and manners. Once you've read it, the stone heads
outside the Sheldonian Theatre will never look the same again.”)
Into The Silent Land Paul Broks (Atlantic Books, London)
(“Broks is a neuro-psychologist who asks the question ' Where is the Self in relation to the
physical matter we call the brain?' He shares his search by presenting small vignettes of
cases he has worked with where parts of the mind and/or brain are disabled. He asks:
“Does this mean that the Self is disabled, only partly there, divided, absent, changed?'”)
The Human Mind Robert Winston
(BBC TV's favourite medic and physiology guide)
How The Mind Works Steven Pinker (Penguin Books)
(“Dazzling, hugely entertaining, even if you only dip in and out it sticks in the memory.”)
The Language of Genes Steve Jones (Flamingo Books)
(“Multi-award winning best seller by Professor of Genetics at University College, London,
now in its ninth re-print. Witty, highly readable, perfect antidote
to hysterical science media coverage.”)