R L Greenall

A new history of this Northamptonshire town, which has too often been overlooked. The author, one of the county's foremost historians, traces the town's fortunes, from its 18th-century weaving industy. The industry faltered, and Kettering, where the Baptist Missionary Society was founded in 1792, became a centre of religious dissent. Its connection in 1857 to the railway system, on the Leicester-Hitchin line, transformed it; the footwear trade developed and blossomed, and Kettering patented the rivetting of heavy-duty boots. More recently, the town has been involved in engineering and the clothing industry. A welcome addition to the 'Past' series.

Local history is very popular in the county but before the first edition of this book it lacked a succinct account. Though very successful, after two decades of new research by archaeologists and historians the need for a new edition became apparent and it will be welcomed by everyone. “ ... a reader-friendly format which will be welcomed by anyone interested in this shire of ‘spires and squires’. ” Northants Evening Telegraph

Daventry was an Anglo-Saxon rural settlement which existed from the late ninth or early 10th century. A substantial village with a priest by the time of Domesday Book, within thirty years a Cluniac Priory was established and Daventry eventually became a market town. To this day it retains its position as the shopping centre for the surrounding district. “...beautifully illustrated and thoroughly researched book.” Daventry Express