Basingstoke has been established for over 1,000 years and yet it is often seen by outsiders as a new town, a town which was barely on the map before its major redevelopment in the 1960s. Yet even by the 1920s the town already considered itself to be the commercial capital of north Hampshire and rarely has it been static in its development and modernisation. This book focuses on that gradual development over the past two centuries with over 200 photographs, maps and images illustrating people and places that have featured and shaped its colourful history. Malcolm Parker is the author of 'Ambling Through Hampshire' and has lived in the area for much of the last forty years. Educated in Overton and Basingstoke he has always been fascinated by local histotry, architecture and topography.