The city of Oxford has a long and prosperous history. First mentioned by name in the early tenth century as one of the burhs, or fortified places, that King Alfred and his descendants had constructed to protect Wessex from the Vikings, Oxford has played a significant part in many of the great historical events that have shaped the country. In the twelfth century the University of Oxford began to take shape, establishing the city as a centre of learning, which it remains today. Oxford at Work explores the life of this 'City of Dreaming Spires' and its people. It takes us from the founding of St Frideswide's nunnery in the eighth century and the emergence of its university in the late twelfth century - the first in the English-speaking world - through its growth and development as one of the country's leading centres of education, science, publishing and motor manufacturing, to its current status as one of the fastest growing and ethnically diverse cities in the UK.