Westminster Hall is astonishing not simply for its sheer size and the magnificence of its fourteenth-century roof, but for the significant role it played in English history. The Hall has witnessed the gradual transition from autocratic monarchy to the rule of law, representative government and eventual democracy. Nowhere else in the world is there a building which has been so closely involved in the life of a nation for such an extended period. Against a background of richly illustrated text, Westminster Hall: 900 Years of History describes the building, its changing uses, the banquets, trials and many historical events associated with Westminster Hall. "Many shires whose labour was due at London were hard pressed because of the wall that they built about the Tower, and because of the bridge that was nearly all carried away by a flood, and because of the work on the King's Hall, that was being built at Westminster, and many a man was oppressed thereby." - The first mention of Westminster Hall in 1097