books on Anglo-Saxon England.

[frogbeastegg]

Time for another of my periodic "Gimme books!" threads.

So, I've got the most recent edition of the classic 'Anglo-Saxon England' by Stenton. Also a few biographies covering the end of the period (Aethelred II, Cnut, Edward the Confessor, two on Queen Emma), and a few books which cover the drag end of the period (e.g. 'The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042 - 1216' by Barlow), and a smattering on the gentle subject of war ('Anglo-Saxon weapons and warfare' by Underwood, the Osprey books). Except Stenton is very old now, and has gaps. The others cover only a small part of the whole.

I want titles which cover it all: events, battles, personages, but also society, law - what's often considered the boring peaceful bits. Social history, aka the soft option, aka the bit amphibian writers find shamefully fascinating and need to drown in before they put pen to paper. Don’t let my wording fool you - I’m not adverse to books which only cover a single topic, so long as they do it well. I like such books. I’ve got literally over a hundred of them for medieval England alone. Got three books on medieval horses alone …

One thing to be borne in mind is that the frog hasn't dabbled in this era for a long, long time, and much of what she learned was waaay back when she was a mere tadpole rummaging around through children's history books. Except for the bits she has picked up while reading about England just before and after 1066. However, the frog would far rather have a complicated book which made her brain hurt than one of those crappy lightweight histories she keeps stumbling across each time she hunts for potential titles. I want good history, the sort you can base things on without being laughed off the stage or making disastrous errors which ruin the authenticity of the background for your 900 page story.

If the 'New Oxford History of England' series put out the Saxon volume to sit before the three medieval ones I expect my problem would mostly be solved, insofar as any one book can solve any matter of history. Alas, they don't seem willing thus far; I haven't heard a thing about it, not even that it is being considered. :grumble:

[ShadesWolf]

OK Froggie as a start u could have a look at a couple of general ones.

Domesday - A search for the roots of england by Michael wood
ISBN 0563205008

Dark Ages - In search of the by Michael wood
ISBN 0563534311

Now for some more indepth ones....

Mercia - the anglo-saxon kingdom of central england by Sarah Zaluckyj
ISBN 1873827628

The Anglo-Saxon Age 400-1042 by D.J.V Fisher
ISBN 0880298944

This book is excellent well worth a look


Finally, the best of all, dont know how u would get you hands on it, and if you get if new its loads of money. I have the entire set of 16 volumes on English history and it was a present.


Anglo-Saxon England (The oxford History of england) by Sir Frank StentonISBN 0198217161
Hardcover 810 pages (February 18, 1970)
Publisher: Oxford University Press

[Red Peasant]

Here is a small selection of titles from my undergrad early medieval bibliography:

Abels, Richard P., Lordship and Military Obligation in Anglo-Saxon England (London, 1988).

Campbell, James, Essays in Anglo-Saxon History (London, 1986).

Dark, Kenneth R., Civitas to Kingdom: Power and Politics in Britain, A.D. 300-800 (Leicester, 1993).

Ellis, Peter Berresford, Celt and Saxon: the Struggle for Britain A.D. 410-937 (London, 1993)

Finberg, H.P.R., The Formation of England, 550-1042 (London, 1974).

Fisher, D.J.V., The Anglo-Saxon Age, c.400-1042 (London, 1973).

Harrison, Kenneth, The Framework of Anglo-Saxon History to A.D. 900 (Cambridge, 1976).

Harrison, Mark and Gerry Embleton, Saxon Thegn, 443-1066 A.D. (London, 1993).

Hart, Cyril, The Danelaw (London, 1992).

Hawkes, Sonia Chadwick, ed., Weapons and Warfare in Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford, 1989).

Higham, N.J., The Convert Kings: Power and Religious Affiliation in Early Anglo-Saxon England (Manchester, 1997).

Hodgkin, R.H., History of the Anglo-Saxons, third edition (Oxford, 1952).

Humble, Richard, The Saxon Kings (London, 1980).

John, Eric, Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England (Manchester, 1996).

Loyn, Henry R., The Governance of Anglo-Saxon England, 500-1087 (London, 1984).

Loyn, H.R., Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, second edition (London, 1991).

Nicolle, David, Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars: Anglo-Celtic Warfare, A.D. 410-1066 (London, 1984).

Niles, John D. and Mark Amodio, ed., Anglo-Scandinavian England: Norse-English Relations in the Period before the Conquest (London, 1989).

Page, R.I., Life in Anglo-Saxon England (London, 1970).

Peddie, John and Patrick Dillon, Alfred's Defeat of the Vikings (Devizes, 1981) Reprinted (London, 1994).

Sawyer, P.H., From Roman Britain to Norman England (London, 1978).

Sawyer, Peter, Scandinavians and the English in the Viking Age (Cambridge, 1995).

Wallace-Hadrill, J.M., Early Germanic Kingship in England and on the Continent (Oxford, 1971).

Whitelock, Dorothy, The Beginnings of English Society, second edition (Harmondsworth, 1974).

Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England (London, 1990).

There is much more, not all read by me of course *eek*, though I sampled many for various essays. For most of these you would need access to a very good library as they would be too expensive to purchase.

[frogbeastegg]

Thanks.

I shall investigate the availability of titles tomorrow evening, when I've a bit more time. I should have said that I don't have access to a good library, so I'll be mostly buying. For obvious reasons I prefer cheaper books so long as they do the job, but I can and will go for more expensive books if they are something very special. But not above £30, and not in great numbers. I've a new job since the last one of these threads, working in a bookshop, of all places. So I can afford to buy these days.

Anyway, some promising looking titles here.


I have found this beauty. Methinks I'll buy one.




Shadeswolf: As I said, I have Stenton I've got the Roman, Saxon and 4 medieval volumes of the original Oxford History of England; the others don't interest me. I have to admit that, unlike you it seems, I got all of mine cheaply, and with a minimum of fuss. Some of them are still in print :cough: including Stenton :cough: Great series indeed, and still very worth reading even now.

I can return the favour (I hope) with the recommendation you look at the New Oxford History of England. New authorities, new subjects added, new insights, new evidence, new thoughts, and added on to the same old principles and detail. One of those rare times when the sequel really builds on and goes beyond the original. The series is still in the making, so there are gaps. I only have the three medieval volumes, but they are amongst my favourites, out of some 150+ history books.

[ShadesWolf]

I must admit the only books I seem to buy at the moment are those on the Hundred years war.

Im still waiting for the next volume of Jonathan Sumpton epic. I hope he manages to get them all in before he dies. Two books in 14 years and we are only upto 1369. Still another 84 years to go. I also need at some time to get round to getting the volumes of 'Dukes of Burgundy' by Richard Vaughan that im missing

I can return the favour (I hope) with the recommendation you look at the New Oxford History of England. New authorities, new subjects added, new insights, new evidence, new thoughts, and added on to the same old principles and detail. One of those rare times when the sequel really builds on and goes beyond the original. The series is still in the making, so there are gaps. I only have the three medieval volumes, but they are amongst my favourites, out of some 150+ history books.

Whats the coverage for the HYW period like in the new books ?

[frogbeastegg]

Shadeswolf: Well ... it sort of depends. First I will say that I've lavished most of my time on the first volume of the three, which covers the Norman - Angevin era. So the latter two haven't been read comprehensively, only referred to one certain topics and wandered about in. For what the books are and aim to do, I'd say the sections on the HYW are very good. They break down into chapters on the usual topics, such as army composition, the events of the war, supplies, recruitment; Prestwich's volume is better at this than Harriss', as Harriss' work is much less divided up into handy to reference segments. But compared to massive specialised tomes like Sumption's work? It can't compete. There isn't the page count; these books have a lot to cover, and only around an average of 600 pages to do it all.



Gone through the suggestions; took longer than I thought. Managed to find a few to go after in addition to that encyclopaedia, and hopefully from there the bibliographies will work their usual magic. Thanks.

[English assassin]

Did we HAVE to mention Sumption? £1 million a year QCs and deputy high court judges who happen to be leading historians as a bloody hobby make me feel rather inadequate...

[ShadesWolf]

Did we HAVE to mention Sumption? £1 million a year QCs and deputy high court judges who happen to be leading historians as a bloody hobby make me feel rather inadequate...

what a hero he is