8 1/4" x 11" 272 Pages Indexed. Brand new gift quality book with interior

8 1/4" x 11" 272 Pages Indexed. Brand new gift quality book with interior text pages near flawless. Illustrations on almost all pages. In this major survey, three distinguished historians produce an exciting introduction to the field. Although the "Lost Centuries" between AD400 and 600 suffer from a scarcity of written sources, and only two writers, King Alfred and the Venerable Bede, dominate our understanding of later times, the authors have created a rich and thought-provoking account of the stormy era when Britain became Christian and sustained several waves of Viking invaders. A single nation, they suggest, slowly emerged from the rivalries and fluctuating fortunes of separate kingdoms like Mercia, Wessex and East Anglia. Major figures such as Offa, Alfred, Edgar and Cnut are discussed in detail, while the stunning illustrations convey the immense achievements of Anglo-Saxon centuries were simply a barbarous prelude to better things. Contents in Ten Chapters: The End of Roman Britain, The Lost Centuries 400-600, The First Christian Kings, The Age of Bede and Aethelbald, The Ag of Offa and Alcuin, The Ninth Century, The Age of Edgar, The Return of the Vikings, The End of Anglo-Saxon England, and Epilogue.