| Preface | | 9 | |
| Oxbridge: The Non-Identical Twins |
| | 11 | |
| Bluestockings and Black October: Women in Oxbridge |
| | 18 | |
| Out of the Blues: Rugby, Bumps and the Boat Race |
| | 23 | |
| Student Societies: Fat Bastards and Tiddlywinkers |
| | 28 | |
| Oxford: History and Culture |
| | 31 | |
| Uproar at the Ford for Oxen: A Short History of Oxford |
| | 33 | |
| From Geoffrey Chaucer to Javier Marias: Literary Oxford |
| | 49 | |
| Where The Light of the World Always Shines: Art in Oxford |
| | 63 | |
| Honeycombs and Fan Vaults: Architecture in Oxford |
| | 69 | |
| Choirboys and Rattling Balls: Music in Oxford |
| | 76 | |
| Brief Lives: A Galaxy of Oxford Stars |
| | 81 | |
| | 93 | |
| The House of Christ and the Prime Minister: Christ Church |
| | 95 | |
| | 104 | |
| The Mother of All Colleges: Merton |
| | 107 | |
| From Deadman's Walk to Sweety: The Botanic Garden |
| | 110 | |
| May Day and Shadowlands: Magdalen College |
| | 112 | |
| | 117 | |
| The University Church of St Mary |
| | 119 | |
| Elite Club with Duck: All Souls College |
| | 121 | |
| University College and Queen's |
| | 124 | |
| A World of Books: Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera |
| | 129 | |
| Brasenose, Exeter and Jesus |
| | 134 | |
| Broad Street: Between Balliol and Blackwell's |
| | 137 | |
| The Old Ashmolean and the Sheldonian Theatre |
| | 142 | |
| Between Wadham and New College |
| | 146 | |
| | 151 | |
| How Do You Become Prime Minister? The Oxford Union Society |
| | 152 | |
| Murder in St Frideswide, Tea in the Randolph |
| | 155 | |
| Ashmolean Museum, Worcester College |
| | 156 | |
| Millionaires and Methodists: Between Lord Nuffield and St Peter |
| | 162 | |
| North-East of the Martyrs' Memorial |
| | 165 | |
| Tony Blair's College: St John's |
| | 167 | |
| The Go-Getting Girls of Somerville |
| | 170 | |
| Keble College: Holy Zebra and the Parks |
| | 172 | |
| Home of the Dodo and the Dinosaurs: University Museum and Pitt Rivers |
| | 175 | |
| Labland: The World of the Laboratory |
| | 178 | |
| How to Make a Cowboy into a Gentleman: The Rhodes Scholarships |
| | 180 | |
| Between Manchester and St Catz |
| | 182 | |
| From North Oxford to Jericho |
| | 185 | |
| Between the Pasternak Museum and the Radcliffe Observatory |
| | 188 | |
| A Lively Place of the Dead: Jericho |
| | 191 | |
| Words, Books and Dictionaries: The Oxford University Press |
| | 193 | |
| The Green Edge of the City: The Oxford Canal and Port Meadow |
| | 196 | |
| To Binsey and Godstow: Alice Doesn't Dream Here Any More |
| | 198 | |
| Cambridge: History and Culture |
| | 201 | |
| Microsoft Meets the Middle Ages: A Short History of Cambridge |
| | 203 | |
| Apostles and Spies: `The Cambridge Homintern' |
| | 223 | |
| Byron and Bear, Nabokov in Goal: Literary Cambridge |
| | 227 | |
| The Philosophers' Stones: Architecture and Town Planning |
| | 247 | |
| Brief Lives: A Galaxy of Cambridge Stars |
| | 257 | |
| | 269 | |
| Print and Prayer: Cambridge University Press and Great St Mary |
| | 271 | |
| The Heart of the University: Senate House and Old Schools |
| | 274 | |
| Gonville and Caius: The Gate of Honour |
| | 276 | |
| Clare's Tears, the Backs and Trinity Hall |
| | 278 | |
| Three for Trinity: Newton, Byron and Prince Charles |
| | 282 | |
| Across the Bridge of Sighs to the Wedding Cake: St John's College |
| | 291 | |
| 2,903 Books and a Diary: Samuel Pepys at Magdalene |
| | 296 | |
| Round Churches, Crooked Clubs and a College Full of Cocks |
| | 300 | |
| Bring Me the Head of Oliver Cromwell: Sidney Sussex and Christ's College |
| | 305 | |
| | 311 | |
| Sweet Singing in the Choir: King's College |
| | 312 | |
| Catz, a Dog and Two Queens |
| | 320 | |
| The Marlowe Mystery, The Parker Loot: Treasures of Corpus Christi |
| | 323 | |
| Geniuses from the Bicycle Shed: Old Cavendish |
| | 326 | |
| Thomas Gray Moves House: From Peterhouse to Pembroke |
| | 329 | |
| A Home for All Arts: Masterpieces in the Fitzwilliam Museum |
| | 335 | |
| Heading for the Botanic Garden |
| | 338 | |
| Noble Entry and Gay Exit: Downing and Emmanuel |
| | 342 | |
| On the Far Side of the Cam |
| | 347 | |
| Building for Bluestockings: Darwin and Newnham |
| | 348 | |
| Oracular Bones and Incunabula: A Noah's Ark of Books |
| | 351 | |
| New Founders, New Ideas: Robinson and Churchill |
| | 355 | |
| Life, Art and Pebbles: Kettle's Yard |
| | 359 | |
| Three Colleges and a Grave: Wittgenstein's Neighbours |
| | 362 | |
| `Grantchester! ah, Grantchester!': Honey for the Patriot's Tea |
| | 365 | |
| A Short Oxbridge Glossary | | 371 | |
| A College Who's Who | | 379 | |
| Museums and Other Sights to See in Oxford | | 392 | |
| University and Colleges: Oxford | | 394 | |
| Museums and Other Sights to See in Cambridge | | 398 | |
| University and Colleges: Cambridge | | 400 | |
| Festivals and Events | | 403 | |
| Bibliography | | 404 | |
| Picture Credits | | 406 | |
| Index of People | | 407 | |
| Index of Places and Themes | | 429 | |