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The Origins of the Anglo-Saxons: Decoding the Ancestry of the English
What do we really know of English ancestry? Combining results from cutting-edge DNA technology with new research from archaeology and linguistics, The Origins of the Anglo-Saxons reveals the adventurous journey undertaken by some of our ancestors long before a word of English was spoken.
Starting with the deeper origins of the Germani and how they fit into the greater family of Indo-European speakers and ending with the language of Shakespeare, taken to the first British colony in America—with thoughts about how English became the lingua franca of the world—this chronicle takes a wider scope than previous histories.
Jean Manco makes the latest genetic data—so far published only in scholarly papers—engaging and accessible to the general reader, data that have overturned the suppositions of population continuity that until recently were popular among geneticists and archaeologists. The result is an exciting new history of the English people, and an entertaining analysis of their development. Featuring illustrations and charts to explain the recent research, this is a must-have for anyone who is interested in the history of English ancestry and language.
Starting with the deeper origins of the Germani and how they fit into the greater family of Indo-European speakers and ending with the language of Shakespeare, taken to the first British colony in America—with thoughts about how English became the lingua franca of the world—this chronicle takes a wider scope than previous histories.
Jean Manco makes the latest genetic data—so far published only in scholarly papers—engaging and accessible to the general reader, data that have overturned the suppositions of population continuity that until recently were popular among geneticists and archaeologists. The result is an exciting new history of the English people, and an entertaining analysis of their development. Featuring illustrations and charts to explain the recent research, this is a must-have for anyone who is interested in the history of English ancestry and language.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 25, 2024
Manco presents a broad, but multidisciplinary synthesis of the origins of the Anglo-Saxons, tracking the Celts from their distant origins to their modern descendants through genetics, archaeology, history and linguistics. This is similar to what was presented in Blood of the Celts. The book starts with an examination of early Anglo-Saxon texts such as Beowulf, and then traces their story back in time into prehistory to their deepest origins and their ancestors in Eurasia, before bringing the narrative forward to the present day. This is not an exhaustive text on the subject, merely a broad and rather concise overview. I found this book rather disappointing as I was expecting more in terms of genetic research, rather than a summary of Anglo-Saxon history. But it does include a collection of lovely photographs, maps and illustrations.
February 12, 2020
This book is an oddity. For something titled the Origins of the Anglo-Saxons, it doesn't spend much time talking about that aspect in particular or even the Anglo-Saxons in general.
The running order is:
Prologue – 6 pages
How the A/S saw themselves – 19 pages
Stuff about the pre-history of Germans from 13,000BC – 85 pages (yikes)
Anglo-Saxons rocking up in England and settle – 21 pages
Basic outline of A/S history to 1066 – 68 pages
Stuff very loosely about the English from 1066 to now - 19 pages
So basically, for your £10.99 you get:-
19 pages mostly about Beowulf and Sutton Hoo
85 pages about archaeological stuff tracing people who became Germans from Siberia through the Steppes to Germany. Great if you want to hear about a possible copper age and their (very) eventual interaction with the Romans, but still a dead loss to a book about Anglo-Saxons. Why not just include a section about the fluctuation in the price of fishcakes in Brazil and go the whole hog if you're going to chuck this in? I'm sure someone is interested in what the people who became Anglo-Saxons were up to in the Dnieper Basin in 13,000BC, but it's taking a very, very, very, long view of Anglo-Saxon history. It's like a Batman origins story that doesn't start with Bruce Wayne, but instead, his Great Grandad deciding he'd like to go into business and then spends most of the film dealing with him struggling with tax returns.
21 pages that takes in the adventus and goes up to around 630ish.
68 pages of a basic outline of subsequent Anglo-Saxon history with lots of gaps and generalisations.
19 pages that talk about the development of the English in a superficial way, a potted history of Tolkien's part, a shout out to Pratchett and basically stuff. Stuff covers a lot of things, but none of it is particularly interesting and if this section wasn't included, no one would have written a letter asking for it to be added. Think of a DVD extra scene that no one ever watches. Not even the people who were in it.
Manco has a name for being in favour of larger numbers of incomers than other people believe the evidence suggests. However, if you were looking for a book that articulates and substantiates that argument, which given the title of this one, you may think you've found, you are going to go away VERY disappointed. The vast majority of this book, as you can see above, has nothing to do with this. The sections that do, fail to argue the point. Manco comments about language (a few lines here and there) and raises a few DNA studies of people dug up in England, but there is precious little new evidence adduced. She doesn't really make a lot out of what she does mention about the DNA recovered. You could probably add together all of the cases she cites of 400-1066 British DNA evidence and make a small paragraph from it all.
On the good side, this book is clearly laid out, with useful summaries at the end of each chapter, plus maps and pictures and it does include finds up to 2016, which is great as far as that goes. However, there are errors in this book. Some are clerical, such as maps being incorrectly labelled (Wat's Dyke and Offa's confused and the key to the map of Frankish expansion is back to front) and I think she confused Franks for Carolingians when she writes that Pepin III was the first king of the Franks.
However, the section on Anglo-Saxon history is very basic and there are what could be described as simplifications present. Penda isn't the earliest Mercian king of whom we know more than their name (Ceorl, but not much more, admittedly, although Higham has made some fascinating suggestions), the account of the Synod of Whitby totally ignores any political context and presents it as a purely religious issue (despite Eanfled and Oswiu having managed different dates for over 20 years), labelling Oswald as the king at Whitby is a clerical error, saying that even though Caedwalla was in exile he was still protective of his own people is a bit of a leap, Manco simplifies the role of the Witan in king making and breaking, making it sound almost constitutional, Bede believing seven kings were overlords of all of the kingdoms south of the Humber doesn't get to the nuance of what he was saying and in particular, omitting to say, the submission of East Anglia to Edward the Elder is dated to after Aethelflaed's death, rather than before. The entire period between 927-978 is missed out. A lot of the history gets a line or a passing nod.
In summary, you've got a clear and well laid out book where half of it is irrelevant, the majority of the rest is very superficial and in places is either wrong or basic to the point of being misleading. However, there are a few bits and bobs that discuss the DNA recovered from the right period and place, but not enough to add much to the argument concerning the origins of the English.
The running order is:
Prologue – 6 pages
How the A/S saw themselves – 19 pages
Stuff about the pre-history of Germans from 13,000BC – 85 pages (yikes)
Anglo-Saxons rocking up in England and settle – 21 pages
Basic outline of A/S history to 1066 – 68 pages
Stuff very loosely about the English from 1066 to now - 19 pages
So basically, for your £10.99 you get:-
19 pages mostly about Beowulf and Sutton Hoo
85 pages about archaeological stuff tracing people who became Germans from Siberia through the Steppes to Germany. Great if you want to hear about a possible copper age and their (very) eventual interaction with the Romans, but still a dead loss to a book about Anglo-Saxons. Why not just include a section about the fluctuation in the price of fishcakes in Brazil and go the whole hog if you're going to chuck this in? I'm sure someone is interested in what the people who became Anglo-Saxons were up to in the Dnieper Basin in 13,000BC, but it's taking a very, very, very, long view of Anglo-Saxon history. It's like a Batman origins story that doesn't start with Bruce Wayne, but instead, his Great Grandad deciding he'd like to go into business and then spends most of the film dealing with him struggling with tax returns.
21 pages that takes in the adventus and goes up to around 630ish.
68 pages of a basic outline of subsequent Anglo-Saxon history with lots of gaps and generalisations.
19 pages that talk about the development of the English in a superficial way, a potted history of Tolkien's part, a shout out to Pratchett and basically stuff. Stuff covers a lot of things, but none of it is particularly interesting and if this section wasn't included, no one would have written a letter asking for it to be added. Think of a DVD extra scene that no one ever watches. Not even the people who were in it.
Manco has a name for being in favour of larger numbers of incomers than other people believe the evidence suggests. However, if you were looking for a book that articulates and substantiates that argument, which given the title of this one, you may think you've found, you are going to go away VERY disappointed. The vast majority of this book, as you can see above, has nothing to do with this. The sections that do, fail to argue the point. Manco comments about language (a few lines here and there) and raises a few DNA studies of people dug up in England, but there is precious little new evidence adduced. She doesn't really make a lot out of what she does mention about the DNA recovered. You could probably add together all of the cases she cites of 400-1066 British DNA evidence and make a small paragraph from it all.
On the good side, this book is clearly laid out, with useful summaries at the end of each chapter, plus maps and pictures and it does include finds up to 2016, which is great as far as that goes. However, there are errors in this book. Some are clerical, such as maps being incorrectly labelled (Wat's Dyke and Offa's confused and the key to the map of Frankish expansion is back to front) and I think she confused Franks for Carolingians when she writes that Pepin III was the first king of the Franks.
However, the section on Anglo-Saxon history is very basic and there are what could be described as simplifications present. Penda isn't the earliest Mercian king of whom we know more than their name (Ceorl, but not much more, admittedly, although Higham has made some fascinating suggestions), the account of the Synod of Whitby totally ignores any political context and presents it as a purely religious issue (despite Eanfled and Oswiu having managed different dates for over 20 years), labelling Oswald as the king at Whitby is a clerical error, saying that even though Caedwalla was in exile he was still protective of his own people is a bit of a leap, Manco simplifies the role of the Witan in king making and breaking, making it sound almost constitutional, Bede believing seven kings were overlords of all of the kingdoms south of the Humber doesn't get to the nuance of what he was saying and in particular, omitting to say, the submission of East Anglia to Edward the Elder is dated to after Aethelflaed's death, rather than before. The entire period between 927-978 is missed out. A lot of the history gets a line or a passing nod.
In summary, you've got a clear and well laid out book where half of it is irrelevant, the majority of the rest is very superficial and in places is either wrong or basic to the point of being misleading. However, there are a few bits and bobs that discuss the DNA recovered from the right period and place, but not enough to add much to the argument concerning the origins of the English.
January 29, 2019
This is a fascinating synthesis of genetics, cultural history and straightforward history to examine how the Anglo Saxons came about. The origins of the Germanic people are carefully examined together with the language and way of living. It’s well worth reading although I will admit to a slight carp that the East Saxons and their kingdom of Essex are neglected in relation to the other components of what became England.
May 23, 2021
very detailed and interesting charting the origins of Anglo-saxons and the make up of different tribes leading up to the 3 major roots of English being Saxons, Angles and Jutes and goes through the DNA and languages, trade of Europe with the loss and decline of the Roman empire.
February 23, 2019
I'm sure this book would be amazing if I could just understand the genetic side of it but I'm lost in the r1a1a1a1a and Y-DNA
January 6, 2019
An interesting overview and multidisciplinary approach combining the written history with genetics, linguistics and archeology, but I finished hungry for more depth, particularly relating to the genetic evidence and and the development of the English language.
January 14, 2019
Disappointing.
It started well, explaining the very broad history of the Germanic peoples - using the hard science of genetics, archeology and texts. But by the end, the fear of being exclusionary in the use of genetics and archeology - decides that now is the time to introduce a much more inclusive view history that decides only in the last chapter to throw in the idea of multiculturalism. The author should have stuck to the precept of the book and the actual evidence shown throughout.
It started well, explaining the very broad history of the Germanic peoples - using the hard science of genetics, archeology and texts. But by the end, the fear of being exclusionary in the use of genetics and archeology - decides that now is the time to introduce a much more inclusive view history that decides only in the last chapter to throw in the idea of multiculturalism. The author should have stuck to the precept of the book and the actual evidence shown throughout.
July 9, 2019
An enjoyable 'big history' kind of survey of English history, taking us from the Indo-Europeans up through the Victorian Age and even beyond.
Unfortunately, while the author tried to bring in genetic and linguistic research to put the migrations of peoples into clearer perspective, she often failed, but not without making a good effort. In reality, what she showed is that DNA evidence adds some interesting insights but those insights are too often inconclusive. Take this quote from near the end of the book: "One recent study estimated that, on average, the present population of eastern England derives 38 percent of its ancestry from Anglo-Saxon immigrants." (206) 38%? That's pretty 'in the middle' and not very helpful. In fact, Manco says the same two lines later: "The modern population of eastern England is richly varied. Individuals within it range from having zero Anglo-Saxon ancestry to so high a level that ancestry DNA tests tend to score them as German." (206) I'm not saying this isn't interesting--it is--but in the end, all it really shows is that England has had many conquerors and immigrants in its history, which I think we all knew already (Celts, Romans, Saxons, Normans, not to mention modern Indian, African, and Caribbean peoples).
I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient/medieval European history--it is informative, just not definitive.
Unfortunately, while the author tried to bring in genetic and linguistic research to put the migrations of peoples into clearer perspective, she often failed, but not without making a good effort. In reality, what she showed is that DNA evidence adds some interesting insights but those insights are too often inconclusive. Take this quote from near the end of the book: "One recent study estimated that, on average, the present population of eastern England derives 38 percent of its ancestry from Anglo-Saxon immigrants." (206) 38%? That's pretty 'in the middle' and not very helpful. In fact, Manco says the same two lines later: "The modern population of eastern England is richly varied. Individuals within it range from having zero Anglo-Saxon ancestry to so high a level that ancestry DNA tests tend to score them as German." (206) I'm not saying this isn't interesting--it is--but in the end, all it really shows is that England has had many conquerors and immigrants in its history, which I think we all knew already (Celts, Romans, Saxons, Normans, not to mention modern Indian, African, and Caribbean peoples).
I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient/medieval European history--it is informative, just not definitive.
May 26, 2024
Well, it was okay.
I am hugely interested in genetical history of Europe and the world and I thought this book would give a deeper insight in this field. But it actually doesn't, really. It is mostly a book about the history of the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons and their conquest of England. Don't get me wrong: that is a fascinating part of history. However, I think the subject matter failed the book title.
For everyone expecting insights on the genetical history of England: read the article on Wikipedia.
If you are interested in the historical and cultural aspects of the Anglo-Saxons, get this book.
I am hugely interested in genetical history of Europe and the world and I thought this book would give a deeper insight in this field. But it actually doesn't, really. It is mostly a book about the history of the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons and their conquest of England. Don't get me wrong: that is a fascinating part of history. However, I think the subject matter failed the book title.
For everyone expecting insights on the genetical history of England: read the article on Wikipedia.
If you are interested in the historical and cultural aspects of the Anglo-Saxons, get this book.
April 1, 2021
The scope of this book is extraordinary, and its execution is superb. It encompasses conventional archaeology, literature, very modern genetic analysis (including determinations of material from burials from the first millennium CE) and linguistics, combining strands of evidence in an extremely erudite but clearly-written account. Essential reading for anyone interested in this subject, either as excellent introduction or, so far as I can tell, to get up-to-date with where the science has taken us in the last few years.
June 26, 2021
An interesting read on the Anglo-Saxons, the Germanic people who settled in Britian and eventually formed England. Their history here is traced through linguistics, archeology, and written history, with a sprinkling of genetics thrown in for good measure. To cover a time period of roughly 10,000 years in 200 pages, the content is necessarily not very deep, but it has whetted my appetite to want to learn more. Definitely recommended as an introductory text for anyone interested in the origins of England and the English.
September 28, 2021
This book was really a hodgepodge, maybe because it was published posthumously. It needed a good editor. It had a lot of information but struggled to make a good narrative out of it. Mostly I wanted to read it to understand the Anglo-Saxon migration from Germany to England and it covered that to some extent, along with the origins of the Germani people (this was longer than the migration to England). I appreciated the genetics part of it but like everything else, there were little pieces of it. Quick read.
November 3, 2023
tl;dr the ancestors of Germanic people migrated from Siberia (which is in Asia) in very ancient times. The passages about the trans-European trade in amber for copper and tin was interesting. Ancient peoples travelled a surprisingly long way regularly. Genetic testing is helping solve scholarly arguments about how many Anglo-Saxons immigrated to England. We don't find out until the last paragraph of the book that English people tested had between 0 and 38% Germanic ancestry. I liked the many photos of artifacts in this book, but I often wanted more historical detail.
December 23, 2019
Ok as a short introductory book, but doesn’t tell the reader much if you are already familiar with the subject. In particular there was much less new material from early DNA than I had hoped. At least Pratchett and Time Team got a nice shout out in the last chapter!
January 4, 2020
enjoyed the tack taken here-- focuses from the start on how the AS and their contemporaries viewed their own history, rather than trying to reconstruct from modern revisionism. relies heavily on linguistic evidence and especially on onomastics.
November 26, 2025
I was really looking forward to this but ended up very disappointed. Basically an overview of early Germanic history which flows into English history. Nothing much new here. The genetic info was minimal and mostly conforms with accepted history.
October 25, 2018
A bit of a dry read, but an important one. I could have done without the last chapter about the rediscovery of the Anglo-Saxons, but I suppose it’s a good ending for Manco’s tale.
March 12, 2019
Nice, I really liked the first half of the book, the second half sort of descended into general history that could be found elsewhere
December 20, 2019
For a book about the Anglo-Saxons, this spends a curiously small amount of time talking about.... the actual Anglo-Saxons.
April 12, 2021
Excellent and very interesting book. I love all the new history and the technology that has been able to debunk some of the older mistaken interpretations of ancient origins.
July 5, 2021
Jean Manco uses a wide array of disciplines to illuminate the story of the Anglo-Saxons and their place in English history. I loved the book.
January 19, 2023
A brief but very effective overview of the topic.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews