Product Description

Written in AD 731, Bede's work opens with a background sketch of Roman Britain's geography and history. It goes on to tell of the kings and bishops, monks and nuns who helped to develop Anglo-Saxon government and religion during the crucial formative years of the English people. Leo Sherley-Price's translation brings us an accurate and readable version, in modern English, of a unique historical document. This edition now includes Bede's Letter to Egbert concerning pastoral care in early Anglo-Saxon England, at the heart of which lay Bede's denunciation of the false monasteries; and The Death of Bede, an admirable eye-witness account by Cuthbert, monk and later Abbot of Jarrow, both translated by D. H. Farmer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40975 in Books
• Published on: 1990-06-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Bede was born in 673. He became a monk at an early age and lived most of his life at Jarrow. Scholar, teacher and writer, he wrote biblical and other works. He has been described as the 'Father of English History'. Bede died in 735. Leo Sherley-Price is a Rural Dean and parish priest at Devon. He has translated a number of other historical and theological texts. D. H. Farmer is author and editor of several books on ecclesiastical and monastic history.

Customer Reviews

A cracking yarn!
I have just finished a University module based on this book, and was lucky to study it in some depth. It is a great book to study but also a great book just to read. It may be over a thousand years old, but Bede's style is infinitely accessible and there is much to enjoy in the stories that he weaves. Particularly memorable are the Anglo-Saxon kings and their fierceness, particularly Penda whom Bede obviously disliked a great deal, and the brilliant story of the conversion of King Edwin from paganism to Christianity. Do not be put off by the fact that it is an "ecclesiastical" history: it is not at all a dry, religious book. It is a highly interesting chronicle of a time which otherwise may have been lost to us.

Fascinating
This is a delightful piece of history not only because of the information it portrays, but also because of the style in which it is written. I also had the opportunity to read the first edition of the work and would love to hear where I could get hold of it. This edition, however, is quite delightful enough!

The book of books
Read any secondary account of early Anglo-Saxon England and the authors are unanimous in their praise of the Venerable Bede. However, it wasn't until I read the book for myself that I realised how true it was when historians claim that, for information, the only reliable source from this era is Bede. I noticed how all the secondary accounts I have read on this period sprung from this book which makes it one of the most influential historical texts ever written. From the departure of the Romans in 409AD until the time Bede finished his work in 731, with the possible exception of Gildas; he is the only game in town for the 21st century Historian.

The book is very readable which is surprising as usually primary histories are harder to read than secondary histories as they are not aimed at the modern history reader, but his short and easily digestible chapters are a credit to his genius. The only tiny disappointment for me was the speed in which he got to the 600's, the vast majority of this text deals with the era from 601-731AD which almost makes it a history of his lifetime. Bede lived from 673-735 so a lot of the information he got will have been from experience or the living memory of those around him. However it would be wrong to blame Bede for this, if the information prior to the 600's was scant then there wouldn't be much he could do about it. It also cannot be forgot that this is an ecclesiastical history and so Bede's interest in pre-Christian Britain would be minor.

Bede's monopoly on early Anglo-Saxon history means we have to trust him unreservedly to a certain extent but this monk is (obviously) biased towards the Catholic religion. This book in large chunks reads like a theological as opposed to historical text with lots of references made to healing miracles performed by holy men of the age. This brings up the question if one does not believe these miracles actually took place can we trust Bede in the historical parts of his texts? Archaeology seems to have proved Bede largely correct in a purely historical sense - which gives us a basis for hope. As an Atheist I certainly do not believe that the miracles took place in the religious sense in which they were reported, however, I am more inclined to believe that Bede never had any intention of misleading the reader. His belief in the miracles he spoke of came about by his unquestioning faith in Catholicism rather than a desire to be manipulative. Therefore, the historical side of his account can be, for the most part, trusted as accurate in my opinion. His mix of theology and history makes for a more interesting read anyway.