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Sir Frank Stenton’s classic history of Anglo-Saxon England offers a detailed survey of events from about AD 550 to AD 1087, covering such key events as the respective hegemony of the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex, the conversion of the English people to Christianity, the subsequent evolution of the church, the Viking raids and settlement in the area known as the Danelaw, the conquest of Scandinavian England under Alfred and his grandson Athelstan, the later decline of the English world, the rule of the Danish monarchs, and the Norman conquest and settlement. Of especial interest to myself are the chapters on learning and literature in early England, the structure of society and the tenth century reformation. Stenton carefully analyses the sources available to him and writes in a lucid style. There are seven maps within the text, though, as is often the case with volumes within the Oxford History of England, the print on some of them is small and the overall appearance messy. There is also a large pull-out map at the end and a very helpful key to Anglo-Saxon place names. I would have welcomed a genealogy of the kings from Egbert through to Harold II in view of the complex and repetitive names of so many of the kings. The main drawback with this volume, however, is that it was originally published in 1943 with a revised version in 1947 and a third edition completed by Stenton’s widow in 1971. For readers who are interested in more modern research into this period I recommend Marc Morris’s “The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England” (Penguin, 2021).Read full review
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A very good price for a title written by the reputed historian Sir Frank Stenton.
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Great book
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Great reference work.
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Need this volume to complete the set.
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