There must be very few known facts about medieval and Tudor York of which David Palliser is ignorant. Densely packed with the latest historical research, Medieval York, 600–1540 takes us on an historical helter-skelter through 940 years and more. From selective variants of the name, through ‘Eburacum’ (meaning ‘place of yew trees', ‘the estate of Eburos’, or – as in popular myth – a British king Ebraucus), ‘Eoforwic’ (perhaps ‘boar town’ – this pun on the name had already been appreciated by the Romans in ad 237, and much later Richard iii's badge was, as Palliser points out, a white boar), ‘Jorvik’ (its contemporary Viking name), ‘Eboracum’ and York, he traces the city's history from c. ad 71, when the Romans chose to develop this settlement, to prosperous, bustling Jorvik, discussing whether recent archaeological findings underpin (or not) known historical facts. From the harrying of the North by the Normans (the disastrous effects of which, Palliser maintains, have been exaggerated) and the social, economic and religious changes which the Conquest instigated, he progresses to the glory days when huge numbers of churches and religious houses grew up around the rebuilt cathedral and squashed themselves into the city centre, when house-building flourished and fairs were plentiful, and when its share in the expanding wool and cloth trade caused York to rival towns such as Bristol and Norwich. Edward i, preparing to fight the Scots, used York for some years after 1298 as his administrative capital, holding parliaments in the city and moving (into York castle) the royal courts of Exchequer, King's Bench and Common Pleas. While documentation before c.1350 is sparser, it is clear that even the early stages of the Hundred Years War, the appalling Black Death and its aftermath, and the unrest which culminated in the Peasants’ Revolt, could not restrain the city for long. From the late thirteenth century until well into the fifteenth, York's civic administration expanded, rich stone houses sprang up, gilds and civic fraternities flourished, Corpus Christi plays developed from earlier Corpus Christi processions, and various cycles of York Plays continued to be performed, and to draw in trade, until as late as 1572.

But by the mid-fifteenth century, following decades of tension between the civic authorities and the crown, and internal wrangling, York had gone into severe economic decline. Protracted war with France sparked sometimes disproportionately heavy levies on the townsmen which prompted unrest, and the disruption of York's lucrative wool and cloth trade after urban and domestic staples (York among these) were transferred to Calais in 1363 also caused much hardship. After c. 1350 it was, increasingly, London through which merchants exported their trade via Calais and the Netherlands. And despite the fact that York's close relationship with the Crown revived under Richard ii, and the city was careful to hedge its bets with his successors and to diversify its imports and exports, its prosperity declined after c.1400. By the 1420s, aggravated by the agrarian crisis, pestilence, shrinking overseas trade and – after c.1450 – civil war, York's economy slumped catastrophically. The Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 reflected both religious and economic discontent, and the unpopular depredations of the Dissolution proved the final straw. Paradoxically, one positive result of the decline which followed was that a large part of what was ultimately left of pre-1540s York was to be preserved for posterity, at least until the coming of industry and the railways.

David Palliser is already a well-known writer about the history of York, so as one might expect, his is a painstaking and impressive survey. It also differs from previous histories of York in that, as the dust jacket proclaims, it ‘seeks to cover the field in its entirety’. In other words, it places York within its wider historical context in any given period, and then explores that period in more detail, examining the development of its politics, law, trade, coinage and mints, art, architecture, religious drama, stained glass, urban records (after c.1350) and so on. It is particularly well-informed about Jorvik, about the history of the Jews of York, and about York city life and civic administration in the later medieval period. The breadth of Palliser's reading is huge, though he rarely quotes from written primary sources, seemingly preferring to synthesise – and to accept as correct – the latest historical research on any given subject. This approach, while understandable, is at times mildly irritating, especially when he is sometimes sharply critical of distinguished earlier historians when their views are at odds with more recent literature. For instance, on p. 96, he peremptorily dismisses as ‘downplayed, mis-dated and even doubted altogether’ Dom David Knowles's view that the account by Abbot Stephen of the re-foundation of St Mary's Abbey, York, was ‘wholly untrustworthy’, merely stating, ‘Since he (Abbot Stephen) has now been rehabilitated as an authority, the problem disappears’. So it may be, but no reference is given for Knowles's original assertion (it is, in fact, Monastic order, 2nd edition, p. 231), nor does his book appear in the bibliography. This gives the general reader no chance at all to evaluate both sides of the argument. We are also expected to know which ‘local chronicler’ writes of the Black Death striking York ‘about Ascension Day’ in 1349 and raging ‘until the feast of St James the Apostle’ (p.189). These are relatively isolated examples, and perhaps it is unfair to quibble. No doubt this tendency to englobe sources rather than to refer to them as they arise is due to the sheer scale of the book, and to the author's flattering assumption that the reader will know as much as he does himself about every subject. But it is frustrating. The 1173–4 invasion of England by William the Lion of Scotland in Henry ii's absence (p. 103) also deserves to be taken more seriously. This was a real threat, and William's capture in battle at Alnwick in 1174 subsequently prompted, in 1175, one of Henry ii's very rare visits to York to accept his liege homage (Howden, Chronica ii. 79–82). And in so detailed a history of the city, it is perhaps surprising that the York earthquake of January 1201, mentioned by Roger of Howden, passes unnoticed (Howden, Chronica iv. 156). Finally the illustrations, while pertinent and interesting, are rather grainy and indistinct, and some would have profited from being in colour – especially those of the wonderful stained glass, which compare unfavourably with the excellent dust jacket.

But these are minor irritants in an otherwise valuable survey. Palliser's book is impressive, informative and detailed, and above all draws York's history together over a wide sweep of nearly 1,000 years. The Romans clearly chose wisely back in adc. 71 when they chose ‘Eburacum’ to provide ‘a fixed point in a fluid and shifting political landscape’ (p. 2). Pope Gregory i also recognised York's crucially important strategic position in the 590s when he selected London and York as the sites for England's first two archbishoprics. In both cases, one might observe (to paraphrase St Augustine), Roma locuta est, causa finita est.