This Hardcover Book item from Facts on File was reviewed on 29-Jul-2008.
Search ISBN:0816016860 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. In Search of the Dark Ages Reference Book. Classifications : General United States Americas History Subjects Books General England Europe History Subjects Books General Ireland Europe History Subjects Books Hardcover Binding (binding) Refinements Books Printed . Related topics: General. United States. Americas. History. Subjects. Books. General. England. Europe. History. requestid: cb51f6a5-e7e2-47ba-9243-d3de2e2afa7d
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1) Hardcover Book In Search of the Dark Ages by Facts on File. Very good history of accession and succession of English kings in the Dark Ages, updated with archaeological findings as of the mid-1980s. As it turns out, England hasn´t been British (in government, at least) since the 700s.
The "British" (native Englanders ruled by the Romans) population was marginalized to Wales, while the Angles, Saxons, and Danes moved south and west to take over the majority of land and from 700 on the kingship of England. King Offa, the first king of a consolidated Anglo-Saxon realm in south-central England, even built a dike to wall off the Welsh to keep them from conquering his government or contaminating his people.
Fun and interesting.¤ 2) Hardcover Book In Search of the Dark Ages by Facts on File. The book is packed full of information and is written in a way that makes it easy to read and understand.¤ 3) Hardcover Book In Search of the Dark Ages by Facts on File. I like the way Michael Wood presents history. His BBC documentaries are excellent. "In Search of the Dark Ages" reads like a TV series (and apparently is based on one), as its chapters are a series of vignettes of some of the most important British historical figures during the period of the first millennium (and in the case of William the Conqueror, just beyond).
Wood tells us about the Celtic warrior queen Boadicea; the defender of Roman Britain King Arthur; the Anglo-Saxon chieftain buried at Sutton Hoo, the Anglo-Saxon rulers Offa, Alfred the Great, and Athelstan; the Viking Eric Bloodaxe; the long-reigning failure Ethelred the Unready; and the Norman William the Conqueror, who ended Anglo-Saxon Britain with his invasion of 1066.
This is a book aimed at Britons, as there are things taken for granted that non-Brits may not understand. The biggest flaw is the total lack of maps. This book cries out for them, especially for those of us with a less than total understanding of English geography.
The only other weakness is that in an attempt to be relevant when the book was written in 1981, Wood often describes events in the past with modern counterparts. We get Vietnam references to guerilla warfare (and he probably would have used the term "ethnic cleansing" in some places had the book been written after the wars in the former Yugoslavia). Some of these references might be a bit dated, but the fact that most aren´t is a sign that much of the brutality of history is still with us.
There is also a Postscript, written in connection with the 2006 paperback edition, that mentions a few modern archeological discoveries that basically just support the stories in the original edition.
And those stories are fascinating! Each chapter is necessarily short (and could each be a book in itself). But we are taken on an enthralling journey from the Celtic resistance to the Romans through the Anglo-Saxon and Viking invasions, to the arrival of the Normans. It should be an encouragement to read more.
But it desperately needs maps!
¤ 4) Hardcover Book In Search of the Dark Ages by Facts on File.
This is a well-written and concise account of England in the Dark Ages. Author Michael Wood seems especially qualified for this sort of subject since he is amazingly proficient in dealing with a time period that has conflicting and missing sources - as he was also with the Trojan War. While the history of the Dark Ages is obscure - in more ways than one - he manages a very clear, concise and accessible narrative. As he was previously only known to me as the host of historical TV shows, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of his writing. (When it comes to history, he is evidently the king of all media.) I particularly like Wood´s diligence in trying to reveal history without a lot of personal opinions or filling in gaps with conjecture masquerading as fact.
In this fairly short book the casual historian will almost certainly acquire a significant amount of interesting new knowledge about Dark Age England. My favorite is the chapter on Athelstan (of whom I´d previously never even heard), an enlightened king who conquered the entire island of Britain - something even the Romans never accomplished! The amazing story of Alfred the Great, while less obscure, also makes great reading.
There is a surprising amount of relatively unknown and important history packed into this slim book. This is a period of time when reality was often hazy even for the contemporaries. The borders of now largely-forgotten kingdoms shifted and disappeared as people of different cultures, religions and languages clashed over and over. The results had a profound impact on our present day culture and language. (How different things would have turned out if Alfred had not, against all odds, refused to give up!) While many may know how England and the British Empire helped shape the modern world, this book tells you a lot about what shaped England.
My one criticism is that the title is misleading. In this book you won´t find out much about the world in general, or even continental Europe, during the Dark Ages. It is almost entirely concerned with (what is now) England. But that was enough to make it a very interesting piece of work to me.
¤ 5) Hardcover Book In Search of the Dark Ages by Facts on File. This book was conceived as a companion volume to the author´s 1981 BBC documentary series of the same name, and it stays current with a postscript penned in 2001. IN SEARCH OF THE DARK AGES tackles some of the same territory of at least two of Wood´s subsequent books, DOMESDAY and IN SEARCH OF ENGLAND, though his objectives and lens are different each time.
Wood´s Dark Age parameters are framed by the Roman triumph over the last, first century A.D. Celtic rebellion led by Boudica (that´s right; "Boadicea" was a misreading of the calligraphy in the original source) and the Norman Conquest of 1066. In between, he selects a pageant of personages to elucidate succeeding generations and the overlay of first Roman, then Anglo Saxon, Viking and finally Norman cultures: King Arthur, the nameless Sutton Hoo man, Offa, Alfred the Great, Athelstan, Eric Bloodaxe, and Ethelred the Unready. The Dark Ages are quite the challenge in which to go looking for the truth, thickly crusted as they are with the opacity caused by too few extant primary sources and too many Medieval fictions, as well as so many change-ups in cultures, language and leadership. Wood does a quality job of reading the sources, critiquing the fictions and sorting out contemporary scholarship and archeological finds.
Wood writes in an astoundingly lucid voice that rings with wonder. The immediacy of his tone, though unsensational, does leave you feeling blood-soaked as you emerge from these violent times. Despite the ruinous invasions and battles, you can see a shift in values, the coloring of what would become the English language and the evolution of a nation. This is an excellent book for general readers wishing to shore up their knowledge of western civilization.¤ 6) Hardcover Book In Search of the Dark Ages by Facts on File. The Dark Ages are often considered a mysterious era. Once paid little interest by scholars, this period has yielded astonishing discoveries about its events and the people who lived through them. Based on the classic BBC television series, In Search of the Dark Ages embarks on an enthralling investigation of the mysterious centuries following the demise of the Roman Empire. Richly illustrated and highly engaging, In Search of the Dark Ages is sure to entertain as well as enlighten. Coverage includes:
* Archaeological evidence for Queen Bodicea´s terrible war of resistance against the Romans
* Evidence for the shadowy resistance leader who fought against the Germanic hordes after the fall of Rome-and who may have been the real King Arthur
* The discovery of the Sutton Hoo, a ship that offers intriguing clues about the origins of English kingdoms
* Ofaa, Alfred, and Althelsan, three great kings who laid England´s political foundations
* The pivotal and fateful confrontation between King Harold and William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 26-Aug-2008, 08160168609780816016860, 900-290-860-750-600-240-BWB-8 |
