Book excerpt: Great Yarmouth dates its official ‘birthday’ from 1208, when it received its first royal charter, but people have lived in the area for many thousands of years. Its prosperity has rested for centuries upon the ‘silver darlings’ - the herring, upon trade, especially across the North Sea, and in more recent times on tourism and the leisure industry. This book sets Yarmouth in its environmental context, discussing the dramatic effect of rises and falls in sea levels and changes in climate upon the town and its surroundings. It looks at the proud contribution of Yarmouth and its inhabitants to national and international events, and includes details of the men and women of the area who have made a difference to their country in a variety of ways, with brief biographies of 30 people with close ties to Greater Yarmouth, from Saint Fursey to Myleene Klass, a remarkable set of role models for the inhabitants of the town of today and tomorrow. Above all, however, the book considers the lives of ordinary people, at work and at play. Profusely illustrated, it includes many fascinating photographs from the 1860s to the late 20th century, almost all of which have never before been published. Unlike most works on Yarmouth, this book looks at the entire area that has always been closely connected to the borough and that now makes up Greater Yarmouth, with a chapter on the history of Gorleston, and chapters on the villages and former villages to the north and south of the central area – and where the majority of the inhabitants of Greater Yarmouth now live. This book brings alive the history of Greater Yarmouth. It will be invaluable to the many people, whether residents or holiday visitors, who have ever wondered what it was like to live here in the past.