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of the book examines the period when te land was contested between, the surviving Romano-British, The germanic Anglo-Saxons, and the Picts and Scots from the outer reaches of the Isles.

Where Arthur is mentioned it is as an idea of leadership rather than as a historical figure and he is set alongside such contemporaries as Vortigen and Cunedda, Hengest and Coel, all brought to life and shown to be much more prominant than the Arthur character could ever have been.

Morris goes out of his way to examine the sources for the period in detail, so as to prove that speculation is at a minimum, and the book is a modern interperetation of the histories of the Time. Gildas, Bede and Nennius, the three chief writers of the period, and their works are examined at length. Language, particularly names are given due respect, the structure of these names is often very revealing about the heritage of a place or person.

Although the period of this book is a very troubled time and the conflicts and power mongering are well covered, equal reverence is given to the social and religious activity of the time. The structure of society is examined, both the native Romano-British life and the l growth of the English society to become the dominant culture, its laws, agriculture, traditions and past-times. The spread of Christianity at this time is a major factor in the birth of this new hybrid nation. As the British succumed very much to Anglo-Saxon life, similarly the Anglo-Saxons succumed to British religion, giving up Paganism for a more unified belief system. There is now area left untouched in this work, and if you only read one book on the post-Roman period, then this is it.

It is a period that has been long misinterperated, mainly due to books and films inventing their own historicaly inaccurate portrayal of the times, but this work will set the record straight. As I said at the top of the page it is not the easiest of reads, but it will shed all the light you need on the birth of the English nation and the murky depths that is Dark Age Britain

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