FAMOUS battles, authors and kings come under the spotlight in a new book about the town’s history.

The Reading Book Of Days, compiled by John Dearing and the History Of Reading Society, tells the story of the town through fascinating day-by-day historical snippets.

The book, which covers the last 12 centuries, chronicles the town’s involvement from its place as a key site during the English Civil War to its major involvement in the manufacturing trade during the

19th century.

John said: “We have 17 authors altogether from the society, who contributed from 60 to 70 stories to a solitary one.

“A lot of them are experts in their fields so we have experts in architecture, art and sport.”

Skipping from one century to another, the book uses previously unpublished material to provide a colourful view of Reading’s history – compiled by the group between July 2011 and January this year – with the most recent fact concerning last year’s unpredictable weather patterns.

John said: “People used their own local history books, visited libraries, went online and to local newspapers to research the facts.”

The book presents a light-hearted look at some facts, including John’s favourite, about the Reading goalkeeper who got lost in the fog in the 1930s.

He added: “It was the FA Cup at Millwall and the fog came down so heavily that the game was cancelled but when they got back to the changing rooms they realised the goalkeeper wasn’t there – and it turns out he was left on the pitch still standing in front of his goal.”

The Reading Book Of Days costs £9.99 and is available from The History Press, by visiting www.thehistorypress.co.uk