Known as a major industrial center, the City of Dundee has a long and eventful history. Following the development of a small trading port in the 11th century, by the 14th century Dundee had grown to be one of the most important towns in Scotland. The city was also a significant religious center, with the distinctive Dominican Monks, known as the Black Friars due to their robes, choosing to mingle with the people of Dundee to share their preaching, despite the danger this could present in these difficult days. Dundee also has a darker and often forgotten past. The city was attacked and extensively damaged by invading English forces, following which defensive walls were constructed, only to be demolished again when the city was again attacked by part of Oliver Cromwell's forces. A number of women were accused, tortured, and executed during the witch hunts, and general living conditions at one point became so poor that the average life expectancy for a man was just 33 years old. With epidemics such as the plague also hitting, a large area of ground was given to the burgh to be used as a burial ground in 1564, and it is now considered to have one of the most important collection of gravestones in Scotland. Scotland's fourth city has many secrets just waiting to be discovered and in Secret Dundee, author Gregor Stewart pulls back the curtains of history to peer into the distant and not so distant past to reveal the forgotten, the strange, and the unlikely.
