Britain After Rome?

[Palanan]

I've just finished a book on the prehistory of Scotland, and while it touched on some of the small kingdoms of Dark Ages Britain, they were in the last chapter and a bit of a hazy whirl.

So I'm looking for a book which would cover the history of these kingdoms, or the history of Britain generally between the departure of the Romans and the invasion of the Normans. I do have one book which partly covers this period: Roman Britain and Early England by Peter Blair, which gives a history of Roman Britain and the Anglo-Saxons up to Alfred the Great.

But this book was published in the 1960s, and I'd appreciate any suggestions for a more modern overview--especially one which details the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from roughly AD 400-1000. Can anyone recommend a title?

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[Liquor Box]

It's fiction (historical fiction), so probably not what you are looking for, but Bernard Cornwall's Saxon Series is great.

[Aedilred]

It's fiction (historical fiction), so probably not what you are looking for, but Bernard Cornwall's Saxon Series is great.

I can take or leave the Uhtred series (I find him a frustratingly unsympathetic protagonist, and the books become increasingly filler-y as the story proceeds) but the Warlord Chronicles trilogy, which is his take on Arthur, is fantastic.

From what I understand the period it seems like you're interested in - the Saxon invasion and "Heptarchy" - is, in its early portion at least, exceptionally and notoriously poorly documented: a dark age indeed. It's a period rather shrouded in legend and the record is largely archaeological, which can make it frustrating to try to track down narrative histories. For primary sources, Gildas and Bede are probably the best bets, though both are of course highly questionable in terms of reliability. The conventional "Saxon invasion" narrative has become increasingly closely contested, with speculation over whether, for instance, Cerdic was even a Saxon (given he has a British name?!).

For a basic introduction there's always This Sceptred Isle, of course. David Miles's The Tribes of Britain spends a fair amount of time on the period in question, though hops about a bit and didn't go into quite as much detail on it as I would have liked.

As a note of caution, modern history has become rather detached from narrative and instead become rather granular. This might be a better approach for highlighting things the historian is interested in and wants to discuss, but it can make it rather frustrating for the lay reader who just wants to find out "what happened". I've found there has also been a bit of a drive to assert this granularity in terms of content, too: I gather the idea that the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England exhibited any kind of unity or stability is increasingly out of fashion, for instance. This sort of thing has been a trait of academic history for some time but is increasingly bleeding over into more popular history works. So while the books from the 60s won't include the latest theories or evidence (which in an archaeologically-heavy field is definitely a handicap) they might nevertheless be rather more readable and useful for the purpose you want than a book from the last ten years.

It's not a period on which I've read much specialist literature, but you could try Francis Pryor's Britain AD: a Quest for Arthur etc.. That might at least help to serve as an introduction to the period from which you can seek out further reading. I'm sure there are works covering the whole period but I can't recall any off the top of my head. Much of the stuff about the early period (400-550) is going to be pretty Arthur-centric, I think. A couple of years ago I read a book about the campaigns of Offa by Chris Peers, entitled Offa and the Mercian Wars: it was limited in scope (7th-8th century) but interesting all the same. If you could find a good biography of Alfred, that would probably be informative, though I'm not aware of any recent ones. Athelstan though has had a couple of recent biographies (Sarah Foot, Tom Holland) which could provide an insight into the creation of England proper and I know Tom Holland at least tends to be pretty readable. Cnut/Canute has also had quite a few recent biographies.

[Palanan]

Thanks very much for the comprehensive answer, I appreciate it.

I'm not at all familiar with this period, and in fact I hadn't heard of This Sceptred Isle or Tribes of Britain. Both of those seem much broader-scale than what I'm looking for, and I was hoping for something with more detail.

But Offa and the Mercian Wars sounds really interesting, even if it's focused on a narrower span of time. My one qualm is that I've seen reviews of other books from Pen & Sword, and since that's not a publisher I'm familiar with I'm not sure how much of a "historian" the author is, given how loosely that term can be used. But as Loki would say, it sounds like it's worth a look.

Sarah Foot's book on Aethelstan also looks worthwhile, especially given the reviews.

And as it happens, I've read a couple biographies of Alfred: the classic Alfred the Great by Eleanor Shipley Duckett, and a more recent Alfred the Great by Richard Abels. I enjoyed them both, but that was a number of years ago and sadly I don't recall much from either, apart from the bare outlines of his life.

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[monomer]

I've just finished a book on the prehistory of Scotland, and while it touched on some of the small kingdoms of Dark Ages Britain, they were in the last chapter and a bit of a hazy whirl.

So I'm looking for a book which would cover the history of these kingdoms, or the history of Britain generally between the departure of the Romans and the invasion of the Normans. I do have one book which partly covers this period: Roman Britain and Early England by Peter Blair, which gives a history of Roman Britain and the Anglo-Saxons up to Alfred the Great.

But this book was published in the 1960s, and I'd appreciate any suggestions for a more modern overview--especially one which details the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from roughly AD 400-1000. Can anyone recommend a title?

.

Well, this definitely isn't modern, but if you haven't read it already, Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples is a staple of many history-buffs shelves. Volume 1: The Birth of Britain covers the era between Roman occupation and Richard III's reign.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by monomer
…if you haven't read it already, Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples is a staple of many history-buffs shelves.

Thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't thought of this one. Churchill would be a pretty imposing introduction to the subject. :smalleek:


Originally Posted by Aedilred
As a note of caution, modern history has become rather detached from narrative and instead become rather granular.

I suppose I'm not quite sure what you mean by "granular" here. Do you mean tightly focused on a specific incident or figure, or a particular set of sources? Or do you mean a particular approach to certain kinds of historical analysis?

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[SaintRidley]

Along the lines of Bede and Gildas, another contemporary source that you may find interesting is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This (https://classesv2.yale.edu/access/content/user/haw6/Vikings/AS%20Chronicle%20Peterborough%20MS.html) is the Michael Swanton translation.

[Dienekes]

Along the lines of Bede and Gildas, another contemporary source that you may find interesting is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This (https://classesv2.yale.edu/access/content/user/haw6/Vikings/AS%20Chronicle%20Peterborough%20MS.html) is the Michael Swanton translation.

I was gonna suggest those two but OP said he wanted modern historians.

Unfortunately most of the stuff I know on them are from small articles that analyze things like genetic diversity, and changing population centers. Nothing that gives a good overview.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Dienekes
Unfortunately most of the stuff I know on them are from small articles that analyze things like genetic diversity, and changing population centers. Nothing that gives a good overview.

Those sound interesting in themselves. I don't know much about genetic history, so that would be something else to explore.

For a couple of years now I've been wondering if I should read Ancestral Journeys by Jean Manco. It's a much broader scope than Dark Ages Britain, but if you have a background in population genetics I'd be interested to know your take on the book.