In Search of the Dark Ages

by Michael Wood Narrated by Marston York

Overview

Brought to you by Penguin.

In Search of the Dark Ages is an unrivalled exploration of the origins of English identity, and the bestselling book that established Michael Wood as one of Britain's leading historians. Now, on the book's 40th anniversary, this fully revised and expanded edition illuminates further the fascinating and mysterious centuries between the Romans and the Norman Conquest.

Alongside portraits of Boadicea, King Arthur, Alfred the Great, Athelstan, and William the Conqueror, the story of England is expanded further to include new voices, with all-new chapters on fascinating characters such as Penda of Mercia, Aethelflaed Lady of the Mercians, Hadrian the African, Eadgyth of England, and Wynflaed. It's an altogether richer, more varied, and inclusive study on the creation of Britain.

Just as it did when it first published 40 years ago, In Search of the Dark Ages overturns preconceptions of the Early Middle Ages as a shadowy and brutal era, showing them to be a richly exciting and formative period in the history of Britain.

© Michael Wood 2001 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Reflecting the style of his PBS-TV In Search Of series (but without a television tie-in), Wood's carefully researched foray into early medieval Britain sifts a number of unresolved mysteries. Among them are the questions: Does archeological evidence support the theory that the real King Arthur was a British resistance hero who fought Germanic tribes around 540 A.D.? Is the Sutton Hoo grave in East Anglia the burial site of a dead king? What motivated warrior queen Boadicea to poison herself when the Romans crushed the uprising she led? Wood writes with grace and conversational verve as he incorporates the latest findings. He humanizes some of the most uninspiring or obscure figures in British history, including Ethelred the Unready; Eric Bloodaxe, ruler of Viking York; Anglo-Saxon imperialist king Offa, who staged a coup d'etat; and Alfred the Great, pioneer of town planning. History Book Club selection; BOMC alternate. (November 14)

From the Publisher

"Carefully. . . . Wood writes with grace and conversational verve as he incorporates the latest findings." —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175311168
Publisher:	Random House UK
Publication date:	08/11/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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