Oxford: Town and Gown is a unique look at the relationships between universities and their local communities, the result of a wide-ranging sociological survey carried out by Peter Collison in 1960s Oxford, at the pivotal moment when the world depicted by authors like Evelyn Waugh and Thomas Hardy changed forever.

Surveys carried out at the same time in York and Reading, two university towns of similar size to Oxford, provide a useful comparison. This book examines political conflict, issues of social class and how local people really viewed the large numbers of students in their midst.