Finis Britanniae: A Military History of Roman Britain and the Saxon Conquest

by Murray Dahm

A new analysis of the evidence shows that the end of the Roman era and birth of Anglo-Saxon rule in Britain was a long, drawn out process and that much of the nuances have been lost over time. This fascinating insight into an often neglected time in history offers an important re-evaluation of the period.

The end of Roman Britain and the Saxon invasions were part of the most disruptive period in Britain’s history, ending centuries of relative stability as a Roman province and beginning centuries of invasion and destruction. It is a period which is also difficult to understand, coming at the end of the Roman era and in the pre-dawn of the Medieval. It is a Dark Age, both in terms of our apparent lack of source material and in our understanding of events. As a result, several legendary figures appear – it is the age of Arthur, Merlin and others; figures steeped in mystery, mysticism and magic, allowed to thrive in the paucity of the source material.

In this new analysis, Murray Dahm explores the military history of the long end of Roman Britain, going back to the roots of the province’s final rupture from Rome in the fifth century and the subsequent invasions. Using a wide array of sources, the author illuminates this dark world and examines what we know (or what we think we know) of the Angle, Jute, Saxon and other invasions that took advantage of Rome’s absence and which, in their own way, shaped the Britain of today.

Genres: Audiobook

288 pages, Hardcover

Published June 25, 2024

Reviews

[Matthew Charmley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does an excellent job bringing together a wide variety of sources on the subject, and teasing a narrative out of some very disparate accounts. However, I feel like he doesn't succeed in giving the book a clear thesis, and it ends up being quite a cumbersome read.