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In the Land of Giants: A Journey Through the Dark Ages
A cultural exploration of the Dark Age landscapes of Britain that poses a significant question: Is the modern world simply the realization of our ancient past?
The five centuries between the end of Roman Britain and the death of Alfred the Great have left few voices save a handful of chroniclers, but Britain's "Dark Ages" can still be explored through their material remnants: architecture, books, metalwork, and, above all, landscapes.
Max Adams explores Britain's lost early medieval past by walking its paths and exploring its lasting imprint on valley, hill, and field. From York to Whitby, from London to Sutton Hoo, from Edinburgh to Anglesey, and from Hadrian's Wall to Loch Tay, each of his ten walking narratives form free-standing chapters as well as parts of a wider portrait of a Britain of fort and fyrd, crypt and crannog, church and causeway, holy well and memorial stone.
Part travelogue, part expert reconstruction, In the Land of Giants offers a beautifully written insight into the lives of peasants, drengs, ceorls, thanes, monks, knights, and kings during an enigmatic but richly exciting period of Britain’s history.
The five centuries between the end of Roman Britain and the death of Alfred the Great have left few voices save a handful of chroniclers, but Britain's "Dark Ages" can still be explored through their material remnants: architecture, books, metalwork, and, above all, landscapes.
Max Adams explores Britain's lost early medieval past by walking its paths and exploring its lasting imprint on valley, hill, and field. From York to Whitby, from London to Sutton Hoo, from Edinburgh to Anglesey, and from Hadrian's Wall to Loch Tay, each of his ten walking narratives form free-standing chapters as well as parts of a wider portrait of a Britain of fort and fyrd, crypt and crannog, church and causeway, holy well and memorial stone.
Part travelogue, part expert reconstruction, In the Land of Giants offers a beautifully written insight into the lives of peasants, drengs, ceorls, thanes, monks, knights, and kings during an enigmatic but richly exciting period of Britain’s history.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2015
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2499 people want to read
About the author
Max Adams
14 books184 followersI am an archaeologist, woodsman and traveller. I live in the North-east of England where I write about landscape and history. My next non-fiction work, to be published in Autumn 2017, is called Alfred's Britain - a history and archaeology of the British Isles in the Viking Age. The King in the North has been a non-fiction bestseller since its publication. In the Land of Giants, my latest non-fiction book, is a series of journeys, mostly on foot, through Dark Age landscapes.
In May 2016 I published my first novel, The Ambulist.
In May 2016 I published my first novel, The Ambulist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
September 26, 2015
Subtitled, “Journeys Through the Dark Ages,” this book details ten journeys taken by the author over seventeen months. It is part a travel book and part a history of Britain from the end of Roman Britain to the death of Alfred the Great. Max Adams begins his journey at Hadrian’s Wall, the entrance to Birdoswald Fort – the place where he suggests the Dark Ages began, with the gradual removal of the troops stationed there. Although, of course, nobody really noticed the beginning of the Dark Ages in Britain – it started, as Adams tells us, in different ways, at different times in different places…
What is certain is that the Roman Empire changed and gradually lost touch with Britannia. In the fifth century there was virtually no narrative history for the British Isles. So, the author began to walk the country and to try to rediscover this enigmatic time through its monuments and remains. He also makes the important point about the influence of Rome that remained; the Roman Empire retained a presence in the monuments, the landscape and roads and in the presence of towns, whose role, “as central places, where literate, thoughtful people might gather and debate the nature of the world survives and thrives.”
This book took Max Adams, and vicariously the reader, from Scotland to Ireland, from Anglesey to York and Whitby and many, many other places; mostly by foot but also by boat around the coastline. At times I was reading about places I had no knowledge of, at others I was reading about areas that were very familiar to me, but made unfamiliar by seeing them through new eyes. The author examined the landscape and the remains left behind from the Dark Ages; along the way he muses about the Saints, Kings, myths, sacred places and beliefs of that time. He makes parallels with the past – for example, saying that the lines of cars lined up in a campsite, cared for and gleaming as signs of conspicuous wealth, are the modern version of cattle – by which people in those times measured their prosperity. He suggests there is no better way to insinuate yourself into the Dark Age mind than to camp close to the ramparts of an ancient fort on the edge of the sea and he asks what those people ate, how they survived the hardship of subsistence living?
Although this is the story of more than a year of long walks and travel, ironically I found this a relaxing and extremely informative read. The pace of the book, mostly being done on foot, helps you to slow down and concentrate and to see things through the author’s eyes. What is clear is that the past infiltrates the fabric of the landscape. Although the Dark Ages are a period buried in obscurity, with few written records, the author brings the period to life with his obvious enthusiasm and his desire to make the world those people inhabited make sense to non archaeologists and non historians. Adams says that out of the Dark Ages came light and he certainly shed light on this historical period for me and has inspired me to look more deeply at the way the past has left its mark on the world around us. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
What is certain is that the Roman Empire changed and gradually lost touch with Britannia. In the fifth century there was virtually no narrative history for the British Isles. So, the author began to walk the country and to try to rediscover this enigmatic time through its monuments and remains. He also makes the important point about the influence of Rome that remained; the Roman Empire retained a presence in the monuments, the landscape and roads and in the presence of towns, whose role, “as central places, where literate, thoughtful people might gather and debate the nature of the world survives and thrives.”
This book took Max Adams, and vicariously the reader, from Scotland to Ireland, from Anglesey to York and Whitby and many, many other places; mostly by foot but also by boat around the coastline. At times I was reading about places I had no knowledge of, at others I was reading about areas that were very familiar to me, but made unfamiliar by seeing them through new eyes. The author examined the landscape and the remains left behind from the Dark Ages; along the way he muses about the Saints, Kings, myths, sacred places and beliefs of that time. He makes parallels with the past – for example, saying that the lines of cars lined up in a campsite, cared for and gleaming as signs of conspicuous wealth, are the modern version of cattle – by which people in those times measured their prosperity. He suggests there is no better way to insinuate yourself into the Dark Age mind than to camp close to the ramparts of an ancient fort on the edge of the sea and he asks what those people ate, how they survived the hardship of subsistence living?
Although this is the story of more than a year of long walks and travel, ironically I found this a relaxing and extremely informative read. The pace of the book, mostly being done on foot, helps you to slow down and concentrate and to see things through the author’s eyes. What is clear is that the past infiltrates the fabric of the landscape. Although the Dark Ages are a period buried in obscurity, with few written records, the author brings the period to life with his obvious enthusiasm and his desire to make the world those people inhabited make sense to non archaeologists and non historians. Adams says that out of the Dark Ages came light and he certainly shed light on this historical period for me and has inspired me to look more deeply at the way the past has left its mark on the world around us. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
February 1, 2025
Not a history book, more of a Historian book. Though that is an odd result, seeing as Max Adams describes himself as 'an archaeologist, woodsman and traveller'. I read The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria and Ælfred’s Britain: War and Peace in the Viking Age as history, and thoroughly enjoyed them as such. He writes about Dark Ages Britain. 'Dark' should really be 'unwritten'; he is reluctant, like most people who studied the period between two occupations, Roman and Norman, to use the term, prefering 'Early Middle Ages'. Likewise European historians of the period after the fall of the western Roman Empire prefer 'Late Antiquity'. But a historian confronted with a lack or written records has to turn instead to other sources, primarily archeology, but also the study of landscape and toponymy in order to construct his history. Exactly how Adams does this is detailed in this book.
From a literary perspective this is a travel book detailing journeys Adams has undertaken in pursuit of history. But as well as his movement through space, his struggles over terrain and his interactions with the natives, supportive or otherwise, we also get his movement through time as he tries to give the landscape he moves through a narrative. As his journeys are discontiguous, the focus switches from the history to the historian.
I have a wonderful experience from the Hortobágy on a hot August day - the heat may have made me a little lightheaded. I was riding with a small party of tourists in an ox drawn cart. Ahead of us rode two Hungarian Csikós resplendent in their blue costumes and traditional saddles and bridles. Horses and riders walked in easy conversation. It looked like a scene from two hundred years before. Then I looked around me for something in the landscape that would give the lie to that idea. In the boundless flat of that landscape, I could find nothing: no road or traffic noise, no telegaph or power lines, no contrails in the sky. I felt that I had suddenly slipped through time. I imagine Max Adams experiences that a lot. What historians experience like this is history: at least Collingwood would have us believe so.
From a literary perspective this is a travel book detailing journeys Adams has undertaken in pursuit of history. But as well as his movement through space, his struggles over terrain and his interactions with the natives, supportive or otherwise, we also get his movement through time as he tries to give the landscape he moves through a narrative. As his journeys are discontiguous, the focus switches from the history to the historian.
I have a wonderful experience from the Hortobágy on a hot August day - the heat may have made me a little lightheaded. I was riding with a small party of tourists in an ox drawn cart. Ahead of us rode two Hungarian Csikós resplendent in their blue costumes and traditional saddles and bridles. Horses and riders walked in easy conversation. It looked like a scene from two hundred years before. Then I looked around me for something in the landscape that would give the lie to that idea. In the boundless flat of that landscape, I could find nothing: no road or traffic noise, no telegaph or power lines, no contrails in the sky. I felt that I had suddenly slipped through time. I imagine Max Adams experiences that a lot. What historians experience like this is history: at least Collingwood would have us believe so.
March 10, 2016
I really love history and can bore for England on various periods, especially the Tudors.
However, when it comes to Britain's Dark Ages (generally considered to be the end of Roman Britain until the death of Alfred the Great) I know next to nothing. Seems like I am in good company - these are known as shadowy centuries.
Max Adams assures us there is still much to discover despite the scarcity of chroniclers. His exploration takes the form of walks, a sea journey and one trip on his motorbike. He firmly believes that these journeys, especially the walks, can still teach us much about the period - by studying the landscape, names of settlements etc.
Any romantic notions I might have harboured about the legend of King Arthur are soon shot down in flames. As Adams puts it 'the appendant fluff of round tables, holy grails, excaliburs and courtly chivalry belongs to a time when those tales were composed, more than half a millennium later'.
I like the easy way he writes, mixing historical study with details of his treks. My long suffering husband has already been warned that we might well be doing some Dark Ages 'exploring' next Spring!
Recommended for anyone wanting to find out more about these shadowy centuries.
However, when it comes to Britain's Dark Ages (generally considered to be the end of Roman Britain until the death of Alfred the Great) I know next to nothing. Seems like I am in good company - these are known as shadowy centuries.
Max Adams assures us there is still much to discover despite the scarcity of chroniclers. His exploration takes the form of walks, a sea journey and one trip on his motorbike. He firmly believes that these journeys, especially the walks, can still teach us much about the period - by studying the landscape, names of settlements etc.
Any romantic notions I might have harboured about the legend of King Arthur are soon shot down in flames. As Adams puts it 'the appendant fluff of round tables, holy grails, excaliburs and courtly chivalry belongs to a time when those tales were composed, more than half a millennium later'.
I like the easy way he writes, mixing historical study with details of his treks. My long suffering husband has already been warned that we might well be doing some Dark Ages 'exploring' next Spring!
Recommended for anyone wanting to find out more about these shadowy centuries.
June 14, 2020
This book by Max Adams seems to have been written with two audiences in mind: people with an interest in British history from the end of Roman occupation in the early 400s to the death of Alfred the Great around 900, and Britons who enjoy taking walks in the countryside and want to know more about the crumbling ruins they sometimes encounter. The writing style is casual and personal, mixing history with descriptions of the landscape and scenery, and not failing to mention the times when he found himself wet, tired, hungry, or stranded in the middle of nowhere. He even makes an interesting aside at one point, remarking how people who saw him sometimes regarded him warily and kept their distance – what was a rumpled middle aged man doing there, and why wasn’t he at work? Had he been younger they would have simply assumed he was out on a youthful journey, but at his age his appearance seemed suspicious to some.
After the Romans left the first centuries of the Dark Ages were dark indeed, at least in the sense of leaving behind a written narrative. England, Scotland, and Wales became a welter of small warring kingdoms, as Ireland had always been since Roman rule had never reached there. Archaeology can provide a surprisingly complete picture of how people lived, but the scant personal details about who they were come from incomplete narratives written hundreds of years later. One of the main historical events of this time was the gradual spread of Christianity across the land, although initially it was an earlier version of the faith which had come with the Romans, and there was considerable reluctance among its leaders to place themselves under papal authority.
The center point of the book is Hadrian’s Wall, which the author returns to several times, discussing its history and purpose. He believes its military value was secondary to the psychological message it sent, which was: ‘Rome is here to rule, and here to stay; submit or be crushed.’ Roman Britain looms large in British history, but the empire was itself is often seen as an historical anomaly. Adams puts it, “There is something to be said for the idea that the Roman period was no more than an interlude in the late Iron Age.” (p. 220). Similarly, in Barry Cunliffe’s Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000 he speaks of the longue durée, big picture history, and considers the idea that the Roman empire was merely a brief period of militarily enforced pax Romana before Europe reverted to its traditional forms of leadership and commerce.
Many of the sites Adams looked at were off the beaten path, some of them little more than heaps of moldering stones and others modified so greatly in later ages that it is hard to visualize their original form. The book has a number of black and white photographs of the places he visited, and there is a section of color plates. One of the more amusing anecdotes he relates concerns the tower of St. Andrew’s church at Bywell, which was constructed largely from stones taken from a former Roman villa, complete with some of its pagan engravings. There is a local legend that the stones with circular holes in them high in the tower were originally Roman toilet seats, and while there is no evidence to support that, they do look for all the world like that was their original purpose; an interesting thought.
Adams has a good feel for military history, and his descriptions of key battles are clear and informative, particularly when discussing the evolution of weapons and tactics, and the complex interplay of mounted knights, infantry pike and swordsmen, and auxiliary bowmen. The battles were not just collisions of armies, but were carefully planned to maximize each side’s advantages and often directed with sophisticated tactical skill.
As time passed, elements of the modern world began to show. For instance
An American reader would do well to keep a map of the British Isles at hand, to follow place names which are probably familiar to British readers. Sometimes Adams uses Britishisms which may be unfamiliar to Americans, such as ‘widdershins,’ a charmingly euphonious way of saying ‘counter-clockwise.’ He also occasionally tosses in some inside-baseball (a good Americanism) archaeological terms that most readers will not be familiar with, such as ‘Roman-Samian ware’ and ‘ashlar masonry.’ Nevertheless, he also gave me one wonderful word that I had never heard before, and now need to find a way to work into a conversation, where it will join other obscure words I have picked up over the years, such as Morganatic and usufruct. It is ‘cephalophore’ and when I first came across it my mind went to “Squid? Octopus?” No, it is an artistic style indicating that a saint was martyred and, specifically, beheaded. It literally means ‘head-carrier’ and refers to paintings and statues where the saints are shown carrying their heads in their hands. There is even a Wikipedia entry for it. Charming.
I enjoyed the book, even when I was lost among unfamiliar plants, animals, and place names. There is good history in it, illuminating five centuries that are often assumed to have been largely lost to time. It also made me want to lace up my hiking boots and head out, even if I don’t have a ruined medieval abbey to visit.
After the Romans left the first centuries of the Dark Ages were dark indeed, at least in the sense of leaving behind a written narrative. England, Scotland, and Wales became a welter of small warring kingdoms, as Ireland had always been since Roman rule had never reached there. Archaeology can provide a surprisingly complete picture of how people lived, but the scant personal details about who they were come from incomplete narratives written hundreds of years later. One of the main historical events of this time was the gradual spread of Christianity across the land, although initially it was an earlier version of the faith which had come with the Romans, and there was considerable reluctance among its leaders to place themselves under papal authority.
The center point of the book is Hadrian’s Wall, which the author returns to several times, discussing its history and purpose. He believes its military value was secondary to the psychological message it sent, which was: ‘Rome is here to rule, and here to stay; submit or be crushed.’ Roman Britain looms large in British history, but the empire was itself is often seen as an historical anomaly. Adams puts it, “There is something to be said for the idea that the Roman period was no more than an interlude in the late Iron Age.” (p. 220). Similarly, in Barry Cunliffe’s Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000 he speaks of the longue durée, big picture history, and considers the idea that the Roman empire was merely a brief period of militarily enforced pax Romana before Europe reverted to its traditional forms of leadership and commerce.
Many of the sites Adams looked at were off the beaten path, some of them little more than heaps of moldering stones and others modified so greatly in later ages that it is hard to visualize their original form. The book has a number of black and white photographs of the places he visited, and there is a section of color plates. One of the more amusing anecdotes he relates concerns the tower of St. Andrew’s church at Bywell, which was constructed largely from stones taken from a former Roman villa, complete with some of its pagan engravings. There is a local legend that the stones with circular holes in them high in the tower were originally Roman toilet seats, and while there is no evidence to support that, they do look for all the world like that was their original purpose; an interesting thought.
Adams has a good feel for military history, and his descriptions of key battles are clear and informative, particularly when discussing the evolution of weapons and tactics, and the complex interplay of mounted knights, infantry pike and swordsmen, and auxiliary bowmen. The battles were not just collisions of armies, but were carefully planned to maximize each side’s advantages and often directed with sophisticated tactical skill.
As time passed, elements of the modern world began to show. For instance
the kings of Dál Riata were able to summon fifteen hundred men...They were a formidable force; and more, because they had the vision to see in the rational, stabilising and everlasting model of kingship constructed by their saint a new sort of political reality that would survive the person of the king. These were the kings, borrowing from their priest’s invocation of the Old Testament, from whom the medieval idea of divine right springs.” (p. 52)
An American reader would do well to keep a map of the British Isles at hand, to follow place names which are probably familiar to British readers. Sometimes Adams uses Britishisms which may be unfamiliar to Americans, such as ‘widdershins,’ a charmingly euphonious way of saying ‘counter-clockwise.’ He also occasionally tosses in some inside-baseball (a good Americanism) archaeological terms that most readers will not be familiar with, such as ‘Roman-Samian ware’ and ‘ashlar masonry.’ Nevertheless, he also gave me one wonderful word that I had never heard before, and now need to find a way to work into a conversation, where it will join other obscure words I have picked up over the years, such as Morganatic and usufruct. It is ‘cephalophore’ and when I first came across it my mind went to “Squid? Octopus?” No, it is an artistic style indicating that a saint was martyred and, specifically, beheaded. It literally means ‘head-carrier’ and refers to paintings and statues where the saints are shown carrying their heads in their hands. There is even a Wikipedia entry for it. Charming.
I enjoyed the book, even when I was lost among unfamiliar plants, animals, and place names. There is good history in it, illuminating five centuries that are often assumed to have been largely lost to time. It also made me want to lace up my hiking boots and head out, even if I don’t have a ruined medieval abbey to visit.
August 22, 2017
This is a superb read and I am still toying with giving it 5 stars. Max Adams takes us on a series of journeys through parts of the British Isles that are loaded with remnants of the Roman and Post-Roman era; dykes, footpaths, tumuli and ancient churches. Each journey is interspersed with a short walk along Hadrian's Wall. In the process two pictures are sketched out for us; the "Dark Ages" and the spread of Christianity, and how the ruins and left-overs of that period interface with the current world.
Lovers of the past, who travel around Britain and probably go off-piste in order to see the odd ruined chapel or deserted village, will love this book. The more hardy, who are prepared to walk through mud and rain and suffer the discomforts of camping, will treat this book with affection and reverence. Max Adams writes lyrically. His descriptions of the landscape and of the "discomforts" are wonderful. It is a pleasure both to the soul and the senses. He paints with words.
I have to praise this book. There are so many moments and ideas in it that will always stay with me and I am certain to revisit chapters in the future. Wonderful.
Lovers of the past, who travel around Britain and probably go off-piste in order to see the odd ruined chapel or deserted village, will love this book. The more hardy, who are prepared to walk through mud and rain and suffer the discomforts of camping, will treat this book with affection and reverence. Max Adams writes lyrically. His descriptions of the landscape and of the "discomforts" are wonderful. It is a pleasure both to the soul and the senses. He paints with words.
I have to praise this book. There are so many moments and ideas in it that will always stay with me and I am certain to revisit chapters in the future. Wonderful.
October 5, 2015
found In the Land of Giants, by Max Adams, a very accessible read and fairly well laid out. It contains narrative from a series of walks. Each walk is accompanied by a map and at least one relevant photo. Interspersed between each walk is a narrative of a walk along & around Hadrian' Wall. The book contains a "plate section" with some very nice images in however I'd probably have been happy to see them in their relevant chapters. My copy was an ebook so that may not be the same in a paper copy. There are a couple of appendices which I appreciated. One has information on the distances travelled on the journey. The other is a very useful timeline of the Dark Ages. The addition of notes and particularly "Recommended reading" is very good. While a little "left field" maybe the chapter/note on "Who are the British?" I found really interesting.
The walks take place in locations that have very deep histories. Some are now quite small and largely little heard of backwaters. Others, London would be a good example, have continued to develop and change since the Dark Ages. The style of writing makes for easy reading and there is fascinating background information about the places that Max Adams passes through on his walks. As archaeology is a major interest of the author's it is unsurprising that there is some very good information about this aspect in many places visited.
Indeed there are a variety of aspects or information about almost all of the places visited and here lies my slight problem with this book. I'm really not quite sure who it is actually aimed at. I fully understand why the author undertook the journeys he did however, other than walks and the Dark Ages, the focuses seem quite broad. In practice the narrative wanders far past the Dark Ages. For the London-Essex walk changing landscapes over the centuries could almost have been the theme and I enjoyed that. However it leaves me unsure just who will really "get" this book. There are stories in here that would interest historians & sociologists, walkers & those with an interest in mythology for example, I simply hope that those who might be interested in this book find it and enjoy it. It is a rich and varied read and will reward those who have an interest in rambling and wide ranging subject.
Disclosure - I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.
The walks take place in locations that have very deep histories. Some are now quite small and largely little heard of backwaters. Others, London would be a good example, have continued to develop and change since the Dark Ages. The style of writing makes for easy reading and there is fascinating background information about the places that Max Adams passes through on his walks. As archaeology is a major interest of the author's it is unsurprising that there is some very good information about this aspect in many places visited.
Indeed there are a variety of aspects or information about almost all of the places visited and here lies my slight problem with this book. I'm really not quite sure who it is actually aimed at. I fully understand why the author undertook the journeys he did however, other than walks and the Dark Ages, the focuses seem quite broad. In practice the narrative wanders far past the Dark Ages. For the London-Essex walk changing landscapes over the centuries could almost have been the theme and I enjoyed that. However it leaves me unsure just who will really "get" this book. There are stories in here that would interest historians & sociologists, walkers & those with an interest in mythology for example, I simply hope that those who might be interested in this book find it and enjoy it. It is a rich and varied read and will reward those who have an interest in rambling and wide ranging subject.
Disclosure - I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.
January 11, 2018
This one was a slog, which was probably me - wrong timing.
Also, was v annoyed at the author's apparently lack of understanding (and/or caring?) that people (generally women) might find a lone man hiking through rural areas something to be regarded with suspicion. He seems to take umbrage at being seen as a potential threat, which seems especially tone deaf these days.
Also, was v annoyed at the author's apparently lack of understanding (and/or caring?) that people (generally women) might find a lone man hiking through rural areas something to be regarded with suspicion. He seems to take umbrage at being seen as a potential threat, which seems especially tone deaf these days.
October 7, 2015
To read ‘In the Land of Giants’ is to move through a landscape you can experience with all your senses, because of the quality of the writing. At times the beautifully measured prose becomes so lyrical as to give off a more than a whiff of Alice Oswald. That is because I suspect Max Adams is really a poet in archaeologist’s clothing. The book is a brilliant mixture of travelogue and the contemplation of the Dark Ages viewed through the lens of a modern man who knows how to read the ground and the remnants of buildings. He is also intensely connected to the old ways, both in terms of his methods of journeying through the British countryside and coast as well as the crafts the people of those historically hazy times employed in order to keep them warm, clothed and fed. There are ten journeys, one of which (following Hadrian’s Wall) punctuates the different narratives. The only disappointment is that the journeys have to come to an end. Read this book and you will need a strong will to resist the urge to raid the nearest camping shop or chandlery and set off on a journey down these forgotten byways to follow in the footsteps or sea-sprayed wake of the early medieval citizens Adams brings to life so vividly. For those less adventurous, it is a book that will give untold pleasure no matter how many times it is read.
May 12, 2016
Interesting subject matter, but the writing style was a little dry, verging on pompous.
Lost interest three quarters of the way through and had to force myself to finish.
Lost interest three quarters of the way through and had to force myself to finish.
July 23, 2019
A very disappointing read. This book is written by an academic but seems aimed at a wider readership. However the whole enterprise seemed muddled. I have a good understanding of the geography of the British Isles, yet I was thoroughly disorientated by the insertion of chapters based on Hadrian’s Wall between journeys elsewhere. Much esoteric information (and language) was included in the text with little explanation, so Wikipedia was frequently needed! Moving around the British Isles so much meant any lessons were disjointed or fragmented.
But overall I found the author’s voice to be annoyingly smug and self-admiring. I was warned as early as p4 that he was unreliable, when he speaks of Choughs cawing in skeletal trees near Hadrian’s Wall. Choughs are ikonic and rare corvids found exclusively on or near coastal cliffs to the west of Britain (Cornwall, West Wales, Isle of Man and so on). I think it very unlikely that they’re in trees East of Carlisle.
He adopts maritime terminology when travelling as part of a boat crew, without explaining the terminology. I think we’re just meant to admire.
On p308 he “never leaves home without a harmonica or two” so he can join in an impromptu music session, where he commissions an Irish drum for himself.
On p401 his head buzzes with a score of half-remembered conversations and incidents “(feasting, coupling)”!!!
The book was full of such distracting asides.
Overall my impression of the book was that the author was more keen on telling us about Max Adams than he was about presenting a coherent, readable and persuasive account of the so-called Dark Ages.
But overall I found the author’s voice to be annoyingly smug and self-admiring. I was warned as early as p4 that he was unreliable, when he speaks of Choughs cawing in skeletal trees near Hadrian’s Wall. Choughs are ikonic and rare corvids found exclusively on or near coastal cliffs to the west of Britain (Cornwall, West Wales, Isle of Man and so on). I think it very unlikely that they’re in trees East of Carlisle.
He adopts maritime terminology when travelling as part of a boat crew, without explaining the terminology. I think we’re just meant to admire.
On p308 he “never leaves home without a harmonica or two” so he can join in an impromptu music session, where he commissions an Irish drum for himself.
On p401 his head buzzes with a score of half-remembered conversations and incidents “(feasting, coupling)”!!!
The book was full of such distracting asides.
Overall my impression of the book was that the author was more keen on telling us about Max Adams than he was about presenting a coherent, readable and persuasive account of the so-called Dark Ages.
February 12, 2020
This book is a walking tour of 'Dark Ages' sites in present day Britain. Adams visits period sites and sees what is there now and then briefly discusses its prior significance. However, he's not as witty a travel writer as Bill Bryson and that's a shame, because this book becomes hard work after a while. The first 80 pages fly by, but it becomes uphill going after that. In describing a tombstone, or a ruined site, there is only so much that can be said in a book like this. A general history of the period would allow a wider scope, but instead this is quite narrow in focus.
The result is a big book, but there is not a lot for anyone with an interest in history to get their teeth into and what there is feels repetitive (yet more ruins of a former high status site where interesting pot sherds were found). There is tons of stuff about the weather of a given day and the incidentals of travel, but I'm not into that sort of thing. I want to learn something useful and whilst there are some interesting facts in here (the memorial to Aliortus the Elmetian memorial in the Lleyn Peninsula, etc) you feel as if you are sniffing them out from between no hot meals to be had in a particular village or yet another overgrown footpath forcing a diversion. There are only so many similar hikes that you can read about and not feel as if you'd be better off with a different book.
Three things you'll take away from this book:
1, the sense of history maintained by the landscape
2, the amount of history contained in the area around Hadrian's Wall
3, how some remote areas today (such as Dunadd) were centrally located in this period
The result is a big book, but there is not a lot for anyone with an interest in history to get their teeth into and what there is feels repetitive (yet more ruins of a former high status site where interesting pot sherds were found). There is tons of stuff about the weather of a given day and the incidentals of travel, but I'm not into that sort of thing. I want to learn something useful and whilst there are some interesting facts in here (the memorial to Aliortus the Elmetian memorial in the Lleyn Peninsula, etc) you feel as if you are sniffing them out from between no hot meals to be had in a particular village or yet another overgrown footpath forcing a diversion. There are only so many similar hikes that you can read about and not feel as if you'd be better off with a different book.
Three things you'll take away from this book:
1, the sense of history maintained by the landscape
2, the amount of history contained in the area around Hadrian's Wall
3, how some remote areas today (such as Dunadd) were centrally located in this period
October 9, 2015
I knew very little about the so-called Dark Ages before I read this book but reading it has brought the era to life for me and showed me how its influence can still be seen in the countryside about us if we know how to look at it.
The book details the author's journey's round various parts of Britain, on foot, by boat and by motor cycle. It is part travelogue and part history. The author has gift for writing in an approachable easy to read style but at the same time imparting a great deal of information to the reader. I felt he really bought the areas he passed through to life in the present as well as from a historical perspective.
Whether you know the areas he covers or not this book is still worth reading. There are maps of the author's various journeys, two appendices - one with journey distances and the other a timeline, as well as a list of recommended reading and a preview of another book by the author - 'The King of the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria'. If you enjoy history and books about the country we live in then I can thoroughly recommend this book. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review.
The book details the author's journey's round various parts of Britain, on foot, by boat and by motor cycle. It is part travelogue and part history. The author has gift for writing in an approachable easy to read style but at the same time imparting a great deal of information to the reader. I felt he really bought the areas he passed through to life in the present as well as from a historical perspective.
Whether you know the areas he covers or not this book is still worth reading. There are maps of the author's various journeys, two appendices - one with journey distances and the other a timeline, as well as a list of recommended reading and a preview of another book by the author - 'The King of the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria'. If you enjoy history and books about the country we live in then I can thoroughly recommend this book. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review.
February 3, 2018
There's a new genre of writing that is currently struggling towards birth - and a proper name. It's a combination of memoir, history and travel writing - let's call it the autogeschicte - and, as I know only too well, it's not easy to do well. I tried to write something along these lines in my London: A Spiritual History, and discovered how difficult it is to hold these disparate elements, that are all too often pulling in different directions, together. Max Adams tries to get under the surface of the Dark Ages by walking the landscapes of its history, mixing memoir with the daily discomforts and joys of walking in our wet climate, all leavened with bits of history along the way. I loved his The King in the North, so I had high hopes for this book, but it proved slightly disappointing. The travel elements were reasonable, but one wet walk ends up resembling another; the memoir was all very well but not sufficiently remarkable to engage much interest; and the history seemed superfluous. In the end, this seemed like a book that helped justify some walks Adams had long wanted to make (together with boat and motorcycle trips) rather than a work that existed in its own right.
November 2, 2019
I was hoping for more information about Dark Age (late antiquity? early medieval? I'm not sure what the preferred nomenclature is) Britain than I got with this book. It's clear the author knows a great deal about his subject, but this book wound up being a dissatisfying blend of not enough history plus rather too much about the journeying through the modern landscape. Which would have been more interesting if Adams hadn't come across as oh-so-smugly superior about how he interacts with the landscape, as opposed to all those people in their fancy campervans and Range Rovers and suburban houses who just clearly Don't Get It. For me, that was the biggest problem with this book: the author's attitude.
And with that said, it seems petty to add that I really wish this book had better maps -- the ones included don't have enough detail, at least for me. Maybe for a citizen of the UK they suffice, but since I'm not, I had a difficult time picturing where all these places were and I frequently had to refer to other map sources.
And with that said, it seems petty to add that I really wish this book had better maps -- the ones included don't have enough detail, at least for me. Maybe for a citizen of the UK they suffice, but since I'm not, I had a difficult time picturing where all these places were and I frequently had to refer to other map sources.
July 1, 2018
This is a fascinating account of the author’s travels in the British Isles to trace the Dark Age history and archaeology of the country as well as the architecture of the times. He writes entertainingly about his journeys, warts and all, so the book is a good mixture of history, archaeology and travel. It would be difficult to finish the book without being much better informed about this obscure age and encouraged to read more.
May 28, 2019
This book is an attempt on the part of the author to walk through different trips in the British isles as a way of better understanding the Dark Ages in Great Britain. As one might expect, though, one ends up finding a lot more about the author and our own contemporary age than one finds out about the dark ages through the course of these trips. This is not too disappointing, both because it is hard for contemporary Brits to uncover the dark ages given the density of continuous occupation of many areas that were inhabited and the lack of knowledge about large chunks of the time as it relates to the time the author is seeking to uncover. But if this book is not as good about the Dark Ages as one would hope, it is an enjoyable account of a series of walking tours where the author only demonstrates himself to be a bit of a hipster and where he manages to show some humorous interactions with others that make it a book easy to enjoy even if not as helpful in understanding the Dark Ages as one would hope.
The author begins this book with a discussion about the source material of the Middle Ages and the challenges it presents to contemporary readers. After that the author takes a hike from Rothesay to Kilmartin in the ancient but often ignored kingdom of Dal Riata, which once held land simultaneously in both Ireland and Scotland. After this comes an interlude with a walking tour from Gilsland to Haltwhistle before there is a walk along the Marches of Wales from Telford to Wrexham involving some thoughts on the crossing of the Severn. There is an interlude from Haltwhistle to Hotbank before the author goes searching for the early East Anglian kings from London to Sutton Hoo. There is an interlude from Once Brewed to Warden Hill before the author walks from Falmouth to Mallaig, walks around Corbridge, and travels from Wareham to Yatton and also walks along Hadrian's Wall. There is some time spent around the Britons from Anglesey to Bardsey Island, an interlude along the Tyne, a walk through Donegal, an interlude from Ovingham to Newcastle, a walk from Meigle to Canterbury, an interlude form Newcastle to Jarrow, and a walk from York to Whitby, along with a postscript asking who are the British, a note on journey distances, and a timeline of the author's various journeys before notes, recommended reading, and acknowledgements.
There is something to appreciate in the author's ability to walk areas that are well-known to students of British history, including a lot of battlefields like Maldon, and places that were important both now and in the early Middle Ages. The author ponders areas where time has changed the isles to a great degree and wonders how it is that areas that used to be trading routes and busy and flourishing communities ended up being contemporary places that time seems to have forgotten and that are backwaters far from contemporary trade paths. One wonders, of course, what it is that leads to areas being vibrant or ignored as possible ways for people and goods to travel, and what it would take to make trade blossom in the area between Ulster and Scotland. Needless to say, the conflict between Scot-Irish and Irish has probably hindered a great deal of the trade that could take place in those regions, and even a fair amount of the travel that could move along such waters. The author, unsurprisingly, gets involved in the speculation about the population effects of various migrations into the Isles, which makes for an interesting discussion, and there is as lot to enjoy here if you like discussions of foot travel in the British Isles.
The author begins this book with a discussion about the source material of the Middle Ages and the challenges it presents to contemporary readers. After that the author takes a hike from Rothesay to Kilmartin in the ancient but often ignored kingdom of Dal Riata, which once held land simultaneously in both Ireland and Scotland. After this comes an interlude with a walking tour from Gilsland to Haltwhistle before there is a walk along the Marches of Wales from Telford to Wrexham involving some thoughts on the crossing of the Severn. There is an interlude from Haltwhistle to Hotbank before the author goes searching for the early East Anglian kings from London to Sutton Hoo. There is an interlude from Once Brewed to Warden Hill before the author walks from Falmouth to Mallaig, walks around Corbridge, and travels from Wareham to Yatton and also walks along Hadrian's Wall. There is some time spent around the Britons from Anglesey to Bardsey Island, an interlude along the Tyne, a walk through Donegal, an interlude from Ovingham to Newcastle, a walk from Meigle to Canterbury, an interlude form Newcastle to Jarrow, and a walk from York to Whitby, along with a postscript asking who are the British, a note on journey distances, and a timeline of the author's various journeys before notes, recommended reading, and acknowledgements.
There is something to appreciate in the author's ability to walk areas that are well-known to students of British history, including a lot of battlefields like Maldon, and places that were important both now and in the early Middle Ages. The author ponders areas where time has changed the isles to a great degree and wonders how it is that areas that used to be trading routes and busy and flourishing communities ended up being contemporary places that time seems to have forgotten and that are backwaters far from contemporary trade paths. One wonders, of course, what it is that leads to areas being vibrant or ignored as possible ways for people and goods to travel, and what it would take to make trade blossom in the area between Ulster and Scotland. Needless to say, the conflict between Scot-Irish and Irish has probably hindered a great deal of the trade that could take place in those regions, and even a fair amount of the travel that could move along such waters. The author, unsurprisingly, gets involved in the speculation about the population effects of various migrations into the Isles, which makes for an interesting discussion, and there is as lot to enjoy here if you like discussions of foot travel in the British Isles.
July 12, 2021
Fascinating stories of the author's modern travels through the early medieval landscapes of Britain. He covers the Island top to bottom and side to side and beyond to Ireland. It is so refreshing to see places that I have visited (and more to come) from his well-educated eyes. Adams is a professional archeologist and a walker, motorcyclist, and sailor through his pass times. While I cautiously accept much of his theories, they are still in flux with much yet to be discovered. And while he punctured the fantasy of the footprint rock at Dunadd, he still needs to figure out whether the carving next to it is a boar or a bull. I'm pretty sure it's a boar. His treatment of legendary Arthur in both the northern and southern geographies, or both, is very good. Keep digging, walking, and writing, Max! We need to know more about Colmcille (Columba), Cuthbert, Oswald, Penda, Offa, Bede, Gildas, Raedwald, Cadwallon, Aurelius Ambrosius, Dewi Sant, and so many more!
June 13, 2018
This is a long, and frankly dull book. The fragmented nature of the narrative doesn't help nor does its at times overblown prose. There is the odd interesting fact thrown in amongst the inconsequentialities, but not many. We are also treated to the usual right-on opinions which sadly seem to be de rigeur in academe nowadays. Our author hammers away at the "sophisticated" and "nuanced" - a right give away this last one - Dark Ages, but sulkily ignores Rome, though he finds time to imply the Empire was like Nazi Germany on one occasion. We get usual insistence of the "mongrel" nature of the English, though the little appendix doesn't in fact show that at all. How anyone can describe Tacitus as "gossipy" is beyond me. There are easier and more entertaining ways to learn about this period of history
November 13, 2016
The past is all around us if you care to look, but the period known as the Dark Ages ( more properly and usefully the Early Middle Ages) is harder to see than any other period. Max Adams's fascinating book reveals the characters and events of the Early Middle Ages through a number of journeys (mostly made on foot) through key Dark Ages landscapes around the British Isles. I learned much from this enjoyable book, including details of two major seventh century battles fought within ten miles of my home. Adams's years of practical archaeological experience and in depth knowledge of the period is imparted lightly and he excels at describing the palimpsest of the landscape through which he travels. An innovative, rewarding and beautifully designed book.
December 2, 2022
A meandering read. I don't think I'm the target audience for this book. My interest was historical, the people behind the Celtic Myths. This was a good introduction to Bede's history, which I may tackle.
It probably needed more knowledge than I have on the Anglo Saxons, to know more about the named people. Mainly Oswald. I find that books about this sort of history don't find descriptions helpful to scholarship; descriptions and background.
However, I enjoy meandering. Adam's ambulism was relaxing.
It probably needed more knowledge than I have on the Anglo Saxons, to know more about the named people. Mainly Oswald. I find that books about this sort of history don't find descriptions helpful to scholarship; descriptions and background.
However, I enjoy meandering. Adam's ambulism was relaxing.
June 20, 2018
The writing itself is lovely, but the subject matter still felt obscure and inaccessible. As for the travel writing component, without a working knowledge of the small towns in this specific geography or a truly useful set of maps in the book, I found it difficult to fix archaeological sites and walking paths in my mind. So I was disappointed, as I had high hopes for this read.
February 14, 2020
Quite literally a journey through the dark ages - on foot, by bike and by boat.
The author gave us all an appreciation of the rich history of the world around but he came across as quite a smug travelling companion....
The author gave us all an appreciation of the rich history of the world around but he came across as quite a smug travelling companion....
March 10, 2017
Another adventure to add to my bucket list. History combines with travel in this book. Kind of "Time Team Goes Hiking" without the three day time limit.
May 19, 2021
just an absolute joy to read. so much information and SO much to apply re: place names. i love KNOWLEDGE
February 3, 2023
author is extremely smug and arrogant and needs an attitude adjustment:)
November 12, 2017
I like historical travel and if you do as well, you will like this book. I found it hard to follow, due to I was not exactly sure where the location is. Add a star if you know or have been to these locations. Enjoy!
August 16, 2020
Great for evoking a feeling of the era, yet sometimes the authors discussions of non-historical things really slow down the pacing of the book.
December 30, 2024
Really enjoyable, put a lot of pieces of history together, and added enough but not too much detail about the daily walks. Recommended.
June 11, 2019
"In the Land of Giants: A Journey Through the Dark Ages" by Max Adams (2016) is exemplar of how I wish history would always be written. Adams, an archaeologist, writer, and traveller has a profound understanding of Great Britain's history, and uses its architecture, landscapes, metalwork, books, and other geological sites to explain and theoretically dissect the events of its past in order to understand the present historical - and moreover - social - conjuncture. In this book, Adams unpacks one of the most ambiguous times in Great Britain's long history, what is known as the Dark Ages, using artifacts, pathways, and geological markers that still, unbeknownst to the majority, stand (either above or underground) to this day. Furthermore, to make his work all the more visceral, Adams avoids traveling by anything other than his own two feet, and in doing so falls into the landscape and its horizons as his predecessors would have.
Though there have been recent essays and other books regarding the topic with its unfitting title of the Dark Ages (which weren't so dark), "In the Land of Giants" doesn't assume any sort of pretension other than Adams' own, direct, laconic knowledge of archeology and history; what I mean to say is that Adams speaks to his readers by asking them to join him on this adventure, pick up on what they can, and learn a bit about how British society came to fruition. Though the book is steeped in heavy-handed socio-political theory and more technical terms regarding rock formations, art, sailing, and the like, I never felt that I was falling behind on the heart of his subject matter.
I have picked up on a few extremely fascinating themes that seem to dominate the pages of this text: race and ethnicity, "colonial" politics of empire, the intertwining symbolism of Catholicism and Christianity along with pagan rituals and practices, the current state of Britain as it deals with the aftermath of industrialism and modernity, the difficulties and pleasures of the experienced and traditional traveller, and the dizzying and never, ironically "set in stone" complexities of Great Britain's monarchy. (While these themes are specifically written about in the realm of Great Britain, I feel that Adams' style and approach to these common themes in our present conversations is a fundamental and extremely helpful model to be followed if we aim to gain understanding and progress in terms of a liberal education.)
"More important for archaeologists and societies is whether the incomer assimilates or imposes their culture. One man's invasion and rapine is another's commercial and domestic opportunity in a new setting. But the Norse seem to have embraced the culture, including Christianity, of their adopted lands. The names that survive in the English landscape which seem to echo successive waves of immigration may exaggerate their genetic and cultural impact." (p. 402)
...
"Most striking is the evidence of organization, collective action and the hand of a planner - a lord who, living away from the village in a grand hall, exercised management of his dependent farmers and craftspeople. Here is a stable, organized social and economic landscape, successful by any standards, which shows that through political turmoil, famine and plague, ordinary indigenous people survived the Early Medieval period doing what people do: getting on with life." (p. 409)
As I learned, the Roman Empire (those descendants from Italy) invaded the land of Great Britain whose inhabitants were, in the Dark Ages, called the "Britons". Those peoples, paraphrasing Adams' words, were somewhat, over time, willing to accept and agree with the idea of Empire. Interestingly enough, there was already a conglomeration of ethnicities brought about by miscegenation: many with the genetic heritage of Germanic peoples, mixed in with Vikings (from Denmark and other places), Welsh, and those from Normandy. In any case, there is something to be understood here regarding hegemonic structures that worked alongside the hierarchy, which did not neglect peasants, as well as the idea of assimilation which was a long and arduous, and as the British say, "bloody", undertaking. What can be extracted from Adams' reflections on this subject is that the British nation - through it's early forms of hunter-gatherer to the rise of monarchy - concisely had to negotiate, compromise, battle, argue, agree, submit, surrender, and accept the powers that be. Now this may seem like an obvious point: but the way in which Adams' tackles these issues is through a basic but illuminating idea: that people who were not exposed to the luxuries and excess of contemporary society did whatever they could to live a "good", "sustainable", and "fruitful" life without the same kind of complaints we might hear today. Adams never directly says this, but I feel it can be implied. That being said, Adams makes sure to say that the pathways he trekked, particularly within the urban landscapes, might not be such a long shot from what actually occurred during the Dark Ages: immigrants, businessmen, political figures, families, all trying to earn money and make their way through a hopefully, meaningful, life.
A theme that really struck me was this explicit explanation of Catholicism as having directly inherited remnants of the pagan worldview. I wonder why this isn't talked about more. Catholicism, being the mark of Empire, actually assimilated into the direction of the peoples' it ruled. Rather than the peoples' assimilating into its overbearing Empire, Catholicism picked up on parts of the pagan culture and married it to its architecture and beliefs. It seems to work perfectly, and, it makes quite a lot of sense. Adams has many comments on this subject which I cannot delve into in this review and would require a more in-depth study. I do think it is something society should be more aware of: that Catholicism and Christianity too, may have more in common with the world before Christ in terms of aesthetic and belief structure (that is not to say anything of monotheism).
"Pagan and Christian alike revered bodily relics; both found spiritual solace and magic in natural springs and places with special atmospheres. The lives of all Britain's inhabitants revolved around the cycle of the seasons, the fertility of their crops and families, the celebration of quarterly festivals and the construction of places in which to contemplate, tender offerings and seek intervention from supernatural beings. Both pagan and Christian held deeply to animist sensibilities. It is easy to look at the monotheism of the Christian faith and see it in a rationalising, all-purpose, all-seeing god with the central redeeming figure of Christ unique in theological history. And it is similarly easy to miss the very evident parallels between the charismatic healers of the shamanic or druidic tradition and those of the New Testament. Jesus acts at the centre of a pantheon of disciples, martyrs, apostles and saints every bit as rich as the suite of of ancestors and spirits that the Dark Age Germans, British, or Irish employed as propitiatory agents. A host of local and celebrity saints fulfilled the same social and cultural functions as - and in some cases may have been identical with - animist deities residing at the bottom of wells, in sacred groves and caves, beneath rocks and still pools... Pope Gregory [allowed] converts to raise huts of branches around his new churches... as they had been accustomed to celebrate their pagan feasts." (p. 356)
Adams' writes about the places he visits in depth - so readers really will get a clear picture of varying states of different parts of Great Britain: those left behind from the centers of power and commerce (mostly pastoral and rural life, much without the luxury of public transport), traditions that hold strong in nations such as Scotland and Ireland (dances and song), features of weather and landscape, and more interesting architecture everywhere - which builds above whole towns and cities from the Dark Ages. Those places are still there, covered by the New World, sticking out in some places that Adams looks into deeply. The ocean. The modern, overly abundant homes built next to rugged humble abodes in Ireland, many of which have been left halfway done due to debt. Still more; you'll have to read to understand. Adams' writing, in terms of place, places you right there next to him, whether it's a hellish rain or a mystical sunrise, you'll feel it. You're there when he "slices" off blisters, too.
My final point: "In the Land of Giants" teaches readers that history is always up for debate, like science, and that though facts be known, still more facts may refute, and that that in itself is not a cause for throwing your hands up and forgetting about it. The importance, pleasure, and remarkable facets of learning history is that it aids all of us in understanding where we stand today. And to know where you stand is to be alive where you are, rather than simply exist.
Though there have been recent essays and other books regarding the topic with its unfitting title of the Dark Ages (which weren't so dark), "In the Land of Giants" doesn't assume any sort of pretension other than Adams' own, direct, laconic knowledge of archeology and history; what I mean to say is that Adams speaks to his readers by asking them to join him on this adventure, pick up on what they can, and learn a bit about how British society came to fruition. Though the book is steeped in heavy-handed socio-political theory and more technical terms regarding rock formations, art, sailing, and the like, I never felt that I was falling behind on the heart of his subject matter.
I have picked up on a few extremely fascinating themes that seem to dominate the pages of this text: race and ethnicity, "colonial" politics of empire, the intertwining symbolism of Catholicism and Christianity along with pagan rituals and practices, the current state of Britain as it deals with the aftermath of industrialism and modernity, the difficulties and pleasures of the experienced and traditional traveller, and the dizzying and never, ironically "set in stone" complexities of Great Britain's monarchy. (While these themes are specifically written about in the realm of Great Britain, I feel that Adams' style and approach to these common themes in our present conversations is a fundamental and extremely helpful model to be followed if we aim to gain understanding and progress in terms of a liberal education.)
"More important for archaeologists and societies is whether the incomer assimilates or imposes their culture. One man's invasion and rapine is another's commercial and domestic opportunity in a new setting. But the Norse seem to have embraced the culture, including Christianity, of their adopted lands. The names that survive in the English landscape which seem to echo successive waves of immigration may exaggerate their genetic and cultural impact." (p. 402)
...
"Most striking is the evidence of organization, collective action and the hand of a planner - a lord who, living away from the village in a grand hall, exercised management of his dependent farmers and craftspeople. Here is a stable, organized social and economic landscape, successful by any standards, which shows that through political turmoil, famine and plague, ordinary indigenous people survived the Early Medieval period doing what people do: getting on with life." (p. 409)
As I learned, the Roman Empire (those descendants from Italy) invaded the land of Great Britain whose inhabitants were, in the Dark Ages, called the "Britons". Those peoples, paraphrasing Adams' words, were somewhat, over time, willing to accept and agree with the idea of Empire. Interestingly enough, there was already a conglomeration of ethnicities brought about by miscegenation: many with the genetic heritage of Germanic peoples, mixed in with Vikings (from Denmark and other places), Welsh, and those from Normandy. In any case, there is something to be understood here regarding hegemonic structures that worked alongside the hierarchy, which did not neglect peasants, as well as the idea of assimilation which was a long and arduous, and as the British say, "bloody", undertaking. What can be extracted from Adams' reflections on this subject is that the British nation - through it's early forms of hunter-gatherer to the rise of monarchy - concisely had to negotiate, compromise, battle, argue, agree, submit, surrender, and accept the powers that be. Now this may seem like an obvious point: but the way in which Adams' tackles these issues is through a basic but illuminating idea: that people who were not exposed to the luxuries and excess of contemporary society did whatever they could to live a "good", "sustainable", and "fruitful" life without the same kind of complaints we might hear today. Adams never directly says this, but I feel it can be implied. That being said, Adams makes sure to say that the pathways he trekked, particularly within the urban landscapes, might not be such a long shot from what actually occurred during the Dark Ages: immigrants, businessmen, political figures, families, all trying to earn money and make their way through a hopefully, meaningful, life.
A theme that really struck me was this explicit explanation of Catholicism as having directly inherited remnants of the pagan worldview. I wonder why this isn't talked about more. Catholicism, being the mark of Empire, actually assimilated into the direction of the peoples' it ruled. Rather than the peoples' assimilating into its overbearing Empire, Catholicism picked up on parts of the pagan culture and married it to its architecture and beliefs. It seems to work perfectly, and, it makes quite a lot of sense. Adams has many comments on this subject which I cannot delve into in this review and would require a more in-depth study. I do think it is something society should be more aware of: that Catholicism and Christianity too, may have more in common with the world before Christ in terms of aesthetic and belief structure (that is not to say anything of monotheism).
"Pagan and Christian alike revered bodily relics; both found spiritual solace and magic in natural springs and places with special atmospheres. The lives of all Britain's inhabitants revolved around the cycle of the seasons, the fertility of their crops and families, the celebration of quarterly festivals and the construction of places in which to contemplate, tender offerings and seek intervention from supernatural beings. Both pagan and Christian held deeply to animist sensibilities. It is easy to look at the monotheism of the Christian faith and see it in a rationalising, all-purpose, all-seeing god with the central redeeming figure of Christ unique in theological history. And it is similarly easy to miss the very evident parallels between the charismatic healers of the shamanic or druidic tradition and those of the New Testament. Jesus acts at the centre of a pantheon of disciples, martyrs, apostles and saints every bit as rich as the suite of of ancestors and spirits that the Dark Age Germans, British, or Irish employed as propitiatory agents. A host of local and celebrity saints fulfilled the same social and cultural functions as - and in some cases may have been identical with - animist deities residing at the bottom of wells, in sacred groves and caves, beneath rocks and still pools... Pope Gregory [allowed] converts to raise huts of branches around his new churches... as they had been accustomed to celebrate their pagan feasts." (p. 356)
Adams' writes about the places he visits in depth - so readers really will get a clear picture of varying states of different parts of Great Britain: those left behind from the centers of power and commerce (mostly pastoral and rural life, much without the luxury of public transport), traditions that hold strong in nations such as Scotland and Ireland (dances and song), features of weather and landscape, and more interesting architecture everywhere - which builds above whole towns and cities from the Dark Ages. Those places are still there, covered by the New World, sticking out in some places that Adams looks into deeply. The ocean. The modern, overly abundant homes built next to rugged humble abodes in Ireland, many of which have been left halfway done due to debt. Still more; you'll have to read to understand. Adams' writing, in terms of place, places you right there next to him, whether it's a hellish rain or a mystical sunrise, you'll feel it. You're there when he "slices" off blisters, too.
My final point: "In the Land of Giants" teaches readers that history is always up for debate, like science, and that though facts be known, still more facts may refute, and that that in itself is not a cause for throwing your hands up and forgetting about it. The importance, pleasure, and remarkable facets of learning history is that it aids all of us in understanding where we stand today. And to know where you stand is to be alive where you are, rather than simply exist.
February 5, 2017
It is generally accepted nowadays that the moniker 'Dark Ages' is something of a misnomer and that the centuries between the departure of the Romans in c.410 and the Norman invasion in 1066 weren't 'dark' at all. Adams portrays a rich and diverse culture encompassed by the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It's just that so little is known! Written records are absent until the likes of the Venerable Bede began writing his acounts of events long after they had occured, plus he didn't think much of the Britons and the Irish Church, so one can't exactly say his accounts are unbiased (though still valuable). And Bede was one of very few chroniclers until the Tenth-Century.
Adams documents a different journey through the British landscape in each chapter. He mostly walks solo, but occasionally with his partner and occasionally with a friend (usually a fellow academic), but he also sails from the Isles of Scilly to Inverie via Wales and the Isle of Man, and zips at almost warp speed through the miles and centuries, often along Roman roads, on his trusty steed/motorbike. The blurb on the inside flyleaf describes the text as 'Part travelogue, part historical study' - and that's exactly what is is. Adams evidences his expertise by his reading of the landscape - which, as I noted above, is mostly done on foot. He walks eighty-three miles from Birdoswald on Hadrian's Wall to Jarrow, for example; eighty-two miles from York to Whitby; 134 miles from Anglesey to Bardsey Island. I was particularly interested in his hike through the Kingdoms of the East Saxons (being one myself) and of the East Anglians, from London to Sutton Hoo (107 miles on foot).
Adams tells the story of the Native Britons, Picts and Gaels, the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons. He reads the lumps and bumps in the ground, the barrows, cairns, lost monasteries and hermit's cells. He takes us from the Essex creeks where many of the Anglo-Saxons first made landfall to the mighty Roman wall in the north; from the sites of roundhouses and lost villages to the sites of Anglo-Saxon battles and palaces. He also takes us to Ireland and a dig in and ancient cemetery. Ultimately, he observes that the landscape of the 'Dark Ages' and the Ancestors is all around us.
One thing I like about Adams' writing is that, although he is a highly intelligent academic and I, frankly, am not, he makes me feel that I am tagging along on his journeys. He is down-to-earth, too. I can identify with him. He writes about how a bramble rips his ear, but someone else thinks it's a scratch; getting soaked to the skin, but no-one caring in the stone-flagged pub where he seeks shelter and a pint; of hearty breakfasts in greasy spoons; and a Thermos atop Hadrian's monument. How I would love to hike with him and soak up all of that knowledge!
Clearly, I loved this book - evidenced by the above commentary and that I ripped through it so quickly (for me). Adams has really fired an interest in me for the 'Early Medieval'. Having now read two of his works, I will definitely look for more - and other tomes on the era.
Adams documents a different journey through the British landscape in each chapter. He mostly walks solo, but occasionally with his partner and occasionally with a friend (usually a fellow academic), but he also sails from the Isles of Scilly to Inverie via Wales and the Isle of Man, and zips at almost warp speed through the miles and centuries, often along Roman roads, on his trusty steed/motorbike. The blurb on the inside flyleaf describes the text as 'Part travelogue, part historical study' - and that's exactly what is is. Adams evidences his expertise by his reading of the landscape - which, as I noted above, is mostly done on foot. He walks eighty-three miles from Birdoswald on Hadrian's Wall to Jarrow, for example; eighty-two miles from York to Whitby; 134 miles from Anglesey to Bardsey Island. I was particularly interested in his hike through the Kingdoms of the East Saxons (being one myself) and of the East Anglians, from London to Sutton Hoo (107 miles on foot).
Adams tells the story of the Native Britons, Picts and Gaels, the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons. He reads the lumps and bumps in the ground, the barrows, cairns, lost monasteries and hermit's cells. He takes us from the Essex creeks where many of the Anglo-Saxons first made landfall to the mighty Roman wall in the north; from the sites of roundhouses and lost villages to the sites of Anglo-Saxon battles and palaces. He also takes us to Ireland and a dig in and ancient cemetery. Ultimately, he observes that the landscape of the 'Dark Ages' and the Ancestors is all around us.
One thing I like about Adams' writing is that, although he is a highly intelligent academic and I, frankly, am not, he makes me feel that I am tagging along on his journeys. He is down-to-earth, too. I can identify with him. He writes about how a bramble rips his ear, but someone else thinks it's a scratch; getting soaked to the skin, but no-one caring in the stone-flagged pub where he seeks shelter and a pint; of hearty breakfasts in greasy spoons; and a Thermos atop Hadrian's monument. How I would love to hike with him and soak up all of that knowledge!
Clearly, I loved this book - evidenced by the above commentary and that I ripped through it so quickly (for me). Adams has really fired an interest in me for the 'Early Medieval'. Having now read two of his works, I will definitely look for more - and other tomes on the era.
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