The Earliest English Kings Book

Written for both professional and amateur historians, this book provides a narrative account of the dynastic history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the pre-Viking period - and their mercurial political and military rulers. From the late sixth century, when Aethelberht, king of Kent, betan receiving missionaries from rome, records survive which illuminate the identies, activities and relationships of the earliest English kings. Their response to the introduction of Christianity, their dynastic feuds, power-struggles, victories and defeats all emerge in letters, saints' "Lives" and annals, in Bede's "Ecclesiastical History" and in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle". In considering this period, David Kirby concludes by looking at why it was that only Alfred's West Saxon dynasty survived the Viking invasion in the second half of the ninth century.Read More