Using London as their home base (since they love dinner and the theater too), the jolly Amateur Historians take you on merry romp that travels back in time to the sites and history of some of the most fascinating areas of the English Midlands. Magnificent Windsor Castle and neighboring Eton College, the ancient educational institutions of Oxford and Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford are the anchor sites. In addition, the book explores the history of the great medieval castles of Kenilworth and Warwick, tours the glorious cathedrals and abbeys of St. Alban's, Dorchester and Reading and drops in for a look at the many medieval and Tudor manor homes, churches, almshouses, barns and other buildings in the region. Centuries will drop away as readers: * Walk with Edward III in the first ceremonial procession of the Order of the Garter, held in 1348 at Windsor Castle; * Slide down a rope of sheets with the Empress Matilda in her dramatic 12th-century escape from a siege of Oxford Castle; * Fight--and die--with Richard III as he struggles to keep England's throne at the Battle of Bosworth; * Dine with Elizabeth I on one of her numerous visits to Kenilworth Castle, one of the many properties that she gave to her favorite courtier Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; * Pray with Mary Queen of Scots as she waits at Fotheringhay Castle for her cousin Elizabeth to decide her fate. These and many other exciting adventures await readers in the pages of "The Amateur Historian's Guide to the Heart of England."