Reading lies in England where the rivers Kennet and Thames meet, roughly halfway between London and Oxford. The town is among the largest places in England without the official title of “city.”
Reading was first recorded in writing in the eighth century, though the Romans had already settled here. In the ninth century the Vikings set up a winter camp and left traces, including a sword that has been found. The founding of the Benedictine abbey in 1121 gave the town decisive impetus before civil wars and a decline in trade in the seventeenth century shaped its development.
Today Reading is an important economic centre with headquarters of international companies such as Microsoft and Bayer. The town is home to the University of Reading and the well-known Reading Festival, which attracts thousands of visitors every year. Figures such as Ricky Gervais and Kate Winslet come from here.
