Emmanuel's history encompasses Puritanism and links with Pilgrim Fathers, and continuing involvement in theological debate. Discussion of college finances on scale never previously attempted in Oxbridge college history.

Emmanuel College was founded by the royal minister Sir Walter Mildmay in 1584; he chose a leading moderate puritan, Laurence Chaderton, as first Master, and aimed to educate godly ministers and good preachers. This history presents its development from these beginnings to the present day. They show how the college's original puritan character gave way to the liberal views of the Cambridge Platonists and the high churchmanship of William Sancroft, instrumental in bringing Christopher Wren to design the new college chapel; and how during the nineteenth century, as with other Cambridge colleges, it expanded in numbers and disciplines, becoming once again a notable centre of theology,and for the first time the home of serious teaching in the natural sciences. It has had a role in all the movements of the twentieth century which have made Cambridge what it is today: in learning, teaching, sport, and social life. A special feature of the book is the substantial account of the history of the college estates and finances, on a scale never before attempted for an Oxbridge college.
Dr SARAH BENDALLis Fellow Librarian and Archivistof Merton College, Oxford; CHRISTOPHER BROOKE is Dixie Professor Emeritus of Ecclesiastical History, University of Cambridge; PATRICK COLLINSONis Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the University of Cambridge.