In Search of the Dark Ages

This popular history reconstructs early medieval Britain through a sequence of figures and sites rather than a single reign. Chapters typically take up Boudica's revolt, the problem of Arthur, the Sutton Hoo burial, Offa of Mercia, Alfred of Wessex, Athelstan, Eric Bloodaxe at York, and Ethelred. Wood reads chronicles against archaeology: hoards, earthworks, coins, and place-names. The argument is that the centuries after Rome can be recovered as political and material history, not only as legend. The book is a set of linked historical portraits, not a textbook survey of every kingdom and not a work of fiction.

Bound in dark blue paper, covers and spine gold blocked and printed with a design. Plain slipcase.