Product Description

This entirely new work replaces Myres' own part of the classic 'Collingwood and Myres'. The author has considered the period afresh in the light of the rapid proliferation of work on the subject since the eralier volume was published.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #337158 in Books
• Published on: 1986-01-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 248 pages

The Times
"Our Dark Age is still murky ... This learned book is the best introductory torch available"

Review
Our Dark Age is still murky ... This learned book is the best introductory torch available (The Times )

He is the foremost authority on the subject and presents a fascinating concentration of evidence, much of which remains enigmatic. (Anthony Powell )

Let us salute the author with ... congratulations on the achievement of this interpretation of a remarkable lifetime's work (TLS )

TLS
"Let us salute the author with ... congratulations on the achievement of this interpretation of a remarkable lifetime's work"

Customer Reviews

Still a significant reference title for the era
'The Oxford History of England' first made its appearance in the 1930's. Myres' "The English Settlements" was published in 1986 to update the scholarship and provide a new approach to the post-Roman occupation. While other volumes in the series (Peter Salway's "Roman Britain" and Sir Frank Stenton's "Anglo-Saxon England") overlap Myres' focus, his contribution serves to emphasise the political hiatus and cultural caesura of the dark days after the Romans left. Power was thrown into the balance and there would be a battle to dominate the island.

Compared to other volumes in the series, this is a slim work, but its subject is possibly the most crucial era in the history of the British Isles. Myres looks at the invasion, settlement, assimilation, and triumph of the peoples who would stamp their identity on the southern half of the island and supplant the Romans and their civilisation.

The invaders came by ship to exploit the vacuum left by the Romans. Jutes, Angles, Frisians, Saxons arrived in increasing numbers, sailing their light craft up the rivers into the heartland of the country.

Myres looks at the evidence for their arrival, tries to uncover patterns and processes - he looks at the literary sources, archaeology, place-names. He dissects the background of the invaders. Why did they come? Why did they stay?

Invasion was opportunistic, piecemeal, was never co-ordinated or planned. The changing nature of the island was an incremental process, with newcomers arriving and deciding to stay.

It's a very scholarly piece, not as accessible as some of the other volumes in the series. This is hardly a book to be read; it is rather a book to be consulted. And, of course, it is beginning to age. There have been archaeological advances since its publication, but it remains a sound piece of scholarly research which still serves as a worthy source book and reference guide for the student of the period.

Highly readable and informative
This book overlaps the period covered in the earlier volume "Roman Britain" by Peter Salway. It covers the dark centuries between the end of Roman rule in Britain and the emergence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

As you would expect for this period, much of the book is speculative but the supporting archaeology and documentary evidence is clearly explained. However, Myers does seem a somewhat opinionated and fails to support some of his theories with adequate evidence.

This does not, however, detract from a highly enjoyable read which I can recommend as an excellent introduction to the period.