We don't need much reminding that the water table is close to the surface in much of the Thames Valley. Bad luck for some, but good news for archaeologists, who can study organic sediments preserved in water holes, including seeds, leaves, twigs and insect remains - and even human wood and leather artefacts - to work out what the landscape would have been like in the past.

Between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, for example, much of the St Aldate's area was a shallow lake. We know this because the remains of reeds have been carbon-dated. We can also see the remains of the Romans' flood defences at Yarnton.

The phrase "bringing history to life" springs to mind when you pick up Thames Through Time (£34.99) by Paul Booth, Anne Dodd, Mark Robinson and Alex Smith, of Oxford Archaeology. Covering AD1 to 1000, it is a scholarly overview of the upper and middle Thames valley, reviewing what we know about the humans who lived in the area.

It is not an easy read, but is brought to life by the clever computer-generated images showing how the Saxons and Romans would have lived, and the double-page illustrated spreads, each concentrating on one archaeological site, such as mid-Saxon Yarnton, or Radley Barrow Hills.