The Anglo-Saxon World cover art

The Anglo-Saxon World

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Anglo-Saxon World

By: Nicholas J. Higham, Martin J. Ryan
Narrated by: Mike Cooper
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The Anglo-Saxon period, stretching from the fifth to the late eleventh century, begins with the Roman retreat from the Western world and ends with the Norman takeover of England. Between these epochal events, many of the contours and patterns of English life that would endure for the next millennium were shaped. In this authoritative work, N. J. Higham and M. J. Ryan reexamine Anglo-Saxon England in the light of new research in disciplines as wide ranging as historical genetics, paleobotany, archaeology, literary studies, art history, and numismatics. The result is the definitive introduction to the Anglo-Saxon world.

The Anglo-Saxon period witnessed the birth of the English people, the establishment of Christianity, and the development of the English language. With an extraordinary cast of characters (Alfred the Great, the Venerable Bede, King Cnut), a long list of artistic and cultural achievements (Beowulf, the Sutton Hoo ship-burial finds, the Bayeux Tapestry), and multiple dramatic events (the Viking invasions, the Battle of Hastings), the Anglo-Saxon era lays legitimate claim to having been one of the most important in Western history.

©2013 Nicholas J. Higham and Martin J. Ryan (P)2022 Tantor
Ancient Europe Great Britain Medieval England Western Europe Viking
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

In Search of the Dark Ages cover art
Æthelflæd cover art
Conquered cover art
The Wolf Age cover art
The Celts cover art
The Anglo-Saxons at War cover art
The Oxford History of the Biblical World cover art
The Anglo-Saxon Settlement of England cover art
Winters in the World cover art
Never Greater Slaughter cover art
Children of Ash and Elm cover art
Buried cover art
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People cover art
Crécy cover art
Anglo-Saxon Portraits cover art
The Norman Conquest cover art

What listeners say about The Anglo-Saxon World

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A most worthy addition to your history library

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I have read many books on the subject and this stands there with the very best. History combined with plenty of archaeological evidence serves to fascinate throughout the book.

Thumbs up to the narration too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A genuinely excellent introduction

This is far from a narrative history, so if that's what you're expecting, look elsewhere. Instead, it's a chronological exploration of what we know, can know, and how we know it from the fall of Roman Britain to the Norman Conquest. This contains a narrative, but focuses far more on how much we can trust that narrative, based on the sources (including archaeological ones). It would have been very useful to have when I was studying this back at A-level...

This makes it a superb counter to the Max Adams school of early English history, where thick books of speculation are woven out of sparse evidence to create engaging narratives that are more works of fiction than history. It also makes it an amusing read after watching the likes of The Last Kingdom or Vikings, with all the historical liberties they take.

Given how unclear it all is, TBH I found myself appreciating these more speculative accounts of the period even more. Hell, I may even go back to Max Adams, having previously given up in frustration at how little support there was for most of what he was writing about in The King in the North and The First Kingdom.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Suited for degree student better as hard copy

Not really for the general listener. Very dry. Lots of references Undoubtedly would work better as a hard copy reference book. I had to give up after a couple of hours.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful