The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England

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This period of history is tumultuous, violent and changing. People's lives are hard, often short - illness or violence - and ruled by the requirements and commands from various deities and gods of pagan and Christian flavours. The tribal leaders, ruling families and later those described as kings and queens are covered in good detail. There are some familiar sources such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Bede and Beowulf, as well as others less well-known to me. These sources, the studies of the age and then Dr Morris's own interpretations and explanations are what make this a very readable and clear story. Meticulous and absorbing. Where Morris’ book really excels is in its understanding of the conquest’s ramifications for the nation’s demographics, language, and ruling elite." A Best Book of the Year Providence Journal

Even when talking about a wild-eyed, hellfire and brimstone churchman like St Wilfrid, the prose is about as lively as reading the phonebook. (This improves as Morris has more sources to draw from. That is, the closer we get to 1066.) As a reader who prefers biographies, I appreciated the few glimpses that a work of this size could devote to individuals. One, new to me, person was St. WIlfrid, Bishop of York who railed against the pagan rites that were being incorporated in the Church. He did this without much "buy in" which made his life difficult and interesting. The “greatness” of Alfred the Great was analyzed. He seems to have introduced defensive warfare in the late 600’s which created (at last) a victory for the over-plundered residents of this island. The book ends with the coming of William the Conquer and the drama of those who prepared the way for his victory. Necessarily one of the most fascinating passages starts out the book, with a discussion of the Sutton Hoo treasure. This extraordinary find was made in 1939: an entire ship buried in the ground containing none other than... the Sutton Hoo helmet, and other fascinating relics, thought to be the tomb of an unknown king, who was buried therein amidships.An interesting theological/political sidebar to the invasions is what Morris calls the Anglo-Saxons’ adoption of a “victim-blaming position ever since the Vikings had made their first appearance.” Christian writers of the time believed that “If God was in charge of human destiny, and events were unfolding according to His preordained plan, it logically followed that He had sent the heathens, and they were merely His chosen instrument to chastise the English for their sins.” He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions. As such Dr Morris has written another very enjoyable and solid book. His approach is in essence chronological commencing with the fall of Roman Britain and the arrival of the Saxons and then to the Danes/Vikings and onwards. I am a self-proclaimed history nerd and nothing gets me to geek out quite as much as British history. Therefore, I naturally had to jump on the chance to review this one and boy, am I glad I did!

I read this for a better understanding of what lead up to the Norman Conquest and the history that followed. This book reads like a masterpiece. I found it helpful to take lots of notes and highlight many of the names and locations as there are quite a few to remember, sometimes in triplicate from the various time periods Eventually, and somehow, this all morphed into what is now England, post-1066, via the Battle of Hastings. They're not called "the Dark Ages" for nothing.Informative, entertaining, easy-to-read history for Anglo-Saxon beginners like me. Each chapter has a theme or a specific historical character so it's more interesting than a straight timeline of "this happened then X became king then this happened." I do not always agree with his conclusions, but Morris presents his case well. His approachable style to history means you'll begin understand why kings made the decisions they did (under duress or not.) As with The Norman Conquest, (which I also highly recommend) felt I really learned so much and enjoyed myself while doing so. I am going to read every book Morris has written. A rich trove of ancient wonders, worthy of many a night in the mead hall, listening to its telling! Yet it is also a book for our time. Marc Morris is a genius of medieval narrative, and I am full of admiration." Ian Mortimer When diving into this book, I was genuinely hoping for a captivating ride through one of England’s most intriguing eras. Unfortunately, I found this book to be a bit of a let down.