There is a common tendency to think of the history of England as starting in 1066, but in fact the shaping of the kingdom as we know it and the forgeing of its national identity originatied with the Saxon dynasty -- a tough, determined, and mostly cultivated succession of leaders of whome Kind Alfred became the most reknowned, and the only English King to be known as 'the Great'.
This book gives a complete and detailed account of the struggles of the Saxons against a continuous incursion of marauding invaders -- Picts, Scots, Irish and, most persistent of all, the Vikings.
It is the heroic story brought to life by the author's vivid characterization of these warrior kings and their achievements, while against the backcloth of continuing violence he traces the development of religion and culture and the establishment of law and civil authority.
Based on that unique document The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the writing of William of Malmesbury in the twelfth century, the book nevertheless takes into account modern scholarship in the field of Anglo-Saxon studies, its story is the making of a nation between AD 689 and the Norman Conquest.
CONDITION: Hard Cover with DJ, light overall wear, 1991, 160 pages including index.
