York's Hidden Treasures book launch

Angela Ranson launches her new book, York's Hidden Treasures, at The Black Swan on Thursday 13 August, from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. It's a conversation between Ranson and Dr Louise Hampson, followed by a Q&A and a book signing.

York's Hidden Treasures is a quirky history of the people, places and events that have shaped York since its founding in 71 AD. Ranson describes it as a book that deliberately pushes beyond the city's well-worn Viking and Roman heritage to take in its wider past: faith and protection, family legacies, ghostly legends, and long-forgotten buildings. It's less about the big names everyone knows and more about the stories that usually stay in the background.

She says she was inspired to write it after discovering that a literal king's ransom was once collected and counted in the Guildhall before being paid to recover Charles I from his captors. That's the kind of thing the book looks for — the odd, specific details that don't always make it into the standard guides.

Fox Lane Books will be there to sell copies, and if you buy a ticket to the event, you get £5 off the book. The night runs from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at The Black Swan, 23 Peasholme Green, YO1 7DE.