Though the nearby village of Great Clacton is an ancient Saxon settlement, Clacton-on-Sea is a comparatively new town, born in 1871. Paradoxically, it is one of the oldest known sites of human habitation in Britain, as evidenced by a 400,000-year-old spearhead discovered in the cliff below Clacton Hospital, and many other archaeological finds. In his latest and most comprehensive book on Clacton, the author traces the town's past, from prehistoric time to the present day, in a well-researched narrative, richly illustrated with maps, photographs and other pictures.