A meticulous and entertaining account of the social life of students and dons at the university in its still-rural environment. Covers many activities that kept them from their books, such as eating and drinking, struggles with authority, the place of women in the all-male environment, sports and pastimes, music and theatre, political riots and executions. Midgley brings this history to life with quotes from primary sources such as journals, diaries, newspapers, memoirs, pamphlets, poems, recipe books, betting books, and of course reports from visitors. James Austen's "The Loiterer" is one of the sources quoted.  Illustrated. Endnotes, Bibliography, Index. A bit of discoloration along the edge of the jacket. Yale University Press. 1996. Hb, Dj. USED. $25.00