What do you think?
Rate this book
The Early Anglo-Saxon Kings
The book takes a new look at the archaeological and literary evidence and focuses on the fragmenting Diocese, provincial and civitas structures of post-Roman Britain. It places events in the context of increased Germanic immigration alongside evidence for significant continuation of population and land use. Using evidence from fifth century Gaul it demonstrates dynamic changes to cultural identities both within and across various groups.
Covering the migration period it describes the foundation stories of Hengest and Horsa in Kent, Cerdic and Cynric, first kings of the West Saxons and Ælle founder of the kingdom of the South Saxons. Ælle is the first king Bede describes as holding imperium and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls Bretwalda. Covering the figures of Ceawlin, Æthelberht and Rædwald it ends with the death of Penda, the last great pagan king.
As life under Roman authority faded into history we see the emergence of a ‘warband’ culture and the emergence of petty kingdoms. The mead hall replaced crumbling villas and towns as the center of social life. These halls rang with the poems of bards and the stories of great warriors and battles. Arthur and Urien of Rheged. The famous Mons Badonicus and the doomed charge of the Gododdin at Catraeth. A chapter on weapons, armor, warfare and accounts of contemporary battles will help paint a picture of dark age warfare. From the arrival of Saxon mercenaries in the fifth century to the death of Penda, the last pagan king, at Winwaed in 655.
Covering the migration period it describes the foundation stories of Hengest and Horsa in Kent, Cerdic and Cynric, first kings of the West Saxons and Ælle founder of the kingdom of the South Saxons. Ælle is the first king Bede describes as holding imperium and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls Bretwalda. Covering the figures of Ceawlin, Æthelberht and Rædwald it ends with the death of Penda, the last great pagan king.
As life under Roman authority faded into history we see the emergence of a ‘warband’ culture and the emergence of petty kingdoms. The mead hall replaced crumbling villas and towns as the center of social life. These halls rang with the poems of bards and the stories of great warriors and battles. Arthur and Urien of Rheged. The famous Mons Badonicus and the doomed charge of the Gododdin at Catraeth. A chapter on weapons, armor, warfare and accounts of contemporary battles will help paint a picture of dark age warfare. From the arrival of Saxon mercenaries in the fifth century to the death of Penda, the last pagan king, at Winwaed in 655.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published March 30, 2023
50 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Tony Sullivan
11 books9 followersTony retired after 31 years in the London Fire Brigade and lives with his wife and three children in Kent. He now writes predominantly historical non-fiction books, but other genres are planned.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 22, 2025
According to the standard story, the Romans left Britannia not long after 400. Soon the land was overrun by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, with only Wales still being controlled by the Romano-British.
In The Early Anglo-Saxon Kings, Tony Sullivan does a great job at complicating that narrative.
The author focused his efforts on the period from 400 to 700, with emphasis on the first two of those centuries. He well set forth how Roman Britannia came about; he considered all the available sources for what happened in the land afterward; he considered what took place in Gaul and among the Romano-Gallic population and made parallels with what might have taken place in Britain.
In short, the author well argues from all sources for a longer term persistence of “Roman” Britannia well into the sixth century. He showed from the earliest sources how challenging it is to imagine how the whole country would be overrun. He points out the evidence for the Battle of Badon Hill as a major British victory and how there is no real evidence for the Kingdom of Mercia until well into the sixth century. He set forth the likely possibility of the Roman British polities remaining for quite some time. Some of the southeastern areas might have been overrun sooner rather than later; in other parts, Germanic mercenaries might well have been maintained on the periphery as the major centers remained. It was only during the significant upheavals of the middle sixth century in which the Romano-British hold on what would become England fell apart and the polities would develop into the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which would be in stronger evidence in the seventh century and beyond.
This book is no mere introduction, but satisfied my desire to learn more about how Roman Britain became Anglo-Saxon England.
In The Early Anglo-Saxon Kings, Tony Sullivan does a great job at complicating that narrative.
The author focused his efforts on the period from 400 to 700, with emphasis on the first two of those centuries. He well set forth how Roman Britannia came about; he considered all the available sources for what happened in the land afterward; he considered what took place in Gaul and among the Romano-Gallic population and made parallels with what might have taken place in Britain.
In short, the author well argues from all sources for a longer term persistence of “Roman” Britannia well into the sixth century. He showed from the earliest sources how challenging it is to imagine how the whole country would be overrun. He points out the evidence for the Battle of Badon Hill as a major British victory and how there is no real evidence for the Kingdom of Mercia until well into the sixth century. He set forth the likely possibility of the Roman British polities remaining for quite some time. Some of the southeastern areas might have been overrun sooner rather than later; in other parts, Germanic mercenaries might well have been maintained on the periphery as the major centers remained. It was only during the significant upheavals of the middle sixth century in which the Romano-British hold on what would become England fell apart and the polities would develop into the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which would be in stronger evidence in the seventh century and beyond.
This book is no mere introduction, but satisfied my desire to learn more about how Roman Britain became Anglo-Saxon England.
May 20, 2025
DNF at 53%
Pen and Sword editors are asleep at the job. Innumerable typos, missing words, and factual errors. My final straw was at 53%, where the author, discussing the topic of single combat in the early Dark Ages, references The Iliad, mentioning that Menelaus defeats Paris, before being killed by Hector.
You heard that right.
Killed by Hector.
Tell me you never, ever read Homer without telling me you never read Homer, because the above described scene occurred in the 2004 film Troy.
Apart from that gaffe, errors abound in inconsistent spellings of names, weirdly twisted genealogies (the Wuffingas of East Anglia, anybody?), and other mistakes made me question how far I could trust anything the author claimed.
Pen and Sword editors are asleep at the job. Innumerable typos, missing words, and factual errors. My final straw was at 53%, where the author, discussing the topic of single combat in the early Dark Ages, references The Iliad, mentioning that Menelaus defeats Paris, before being killed by Hector.
You heard that right.
Killed by Hector.
Tell me you never, ever read Homer without telling me you never read Homer, because the above described scene occurred in the 2004 film Troy.
Apart from that gaffe, errors abound in inconsistent spellings of names, weirdly twisted genealogies (the Wuffingas of East Anglia, anybody?), and other mistakes made me question how far I could trust anything the author claimed.
July 31, 2024
En allmän genomgång av tidig angelsaxisk historia. Spännande och ganska välskriven men knappast öponöppnande eller minnesvärd.
April 1, 2023
Sullivan has put a great deal of research into the question of who the early Saxons were and what brought them to Britain. He also frames the early Anglo-Saxon empire against the fall of Rome and the emergence of new nations in its wake, which adds some interesting context that is often missing in these discussions.
I was very excited for the release of this book and I admit I am a bit let down. The first half of the book is spent picking apart the dates Hengist and Horsa first landed in Britain, who Vortigern was, and Anglo-Saxon weapons and battle tactics. Aethelbert, Penda, and Raedwine - the kings the book was marketed about - are not referenced beyond a passing mention until the last 20 pages of the book.
Additionally, the editing was very poor - one could say nonexistent. Entire words are missing throughout the book, and the punctuation is so slapdash that I had to reread things several times to understand what was being said. Most of the images are grainy uploads that are attributed to "Wikimedia Commons," which is just lazy, as Wikipedia cites all of their sources IN the image.
I don't necessarily blame Mr. Sullivan, who I think has a wonderful knowledge and enthusiasm for this area, but I do think Pen and Sword has a responsibility to their authors.
I was very excited for the release of this book and I admit I am a bit let down. The first half of the book is spent picking apart the dates Hengist and Horsa first landed in Britain, who Vortigern was, and Anglo-Saxon weapons and battle tactics. Aethelbert, Penda, and Raedwine - the kings the book was marketed about - are not referenced beyond a passing mention until the last 20 pages of the book.
Additionally, the editing was very poor - one could say nonexistent. Entire words are missing throughout the book, and the punctuation is so slapdash that I had to reread things several times to understand what was being said. Most of the images are grainy uploads that are attributed to "Wikimedia Commons," which is just lazy, as Wikipedia cites all of their sources IN the image.
I don't necessarily blame Mr. Sullivan, who I think has a wonderful knowledge and enthusiasm for this area, but I do think Pen and Sword has a responsibility to their authors.
September 20, 2023
A really good summary of all the latest information
The author has presented a very well researched and up to date account of the 'British Heroic Age' (aka Dark Ages). His style of writing is really clear and easy to follow and understand. I have read countless books on the subject and would recommend this book to anyone wanting an easy to read account of the period that isn't too academically heavy. There are obviously more detailed books on the subject and I would see this book as opening the door for further reading by those whose interest has been piqued by this. Excellent book
The author has presented a very well researched and up to date account of the 'British Heroic Age' (aka Dark Ages). His style of writing is really clear and easy to follow and understand. I have read countless books on the subject and would recommend this book to anyone wanting an easy to read account of the period that isn't too academically heavy. There are obviously more detailed books on the subject and I would see this book as opening the door for further reading by those whose interest has been piqued by this. Excellent book
January 21, 2023
2 ⭐️⭐️
Thank you so much to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.
Unfortunately this one was a miss for me.
I found there to be a lot of info dumping without interpretation or context. Additionally the author has taken the decision to abbreviate primary texts to things like “HB” etc after only one use of the full title. There are no footnotes to help readers either. I found this very distracting-I like to know my primary sources in full (especially when the ones primarily referred to are not well
Thank you so much to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.
Unfortunately this one was a miss for me.
I found there to be a lot of info dumping without interpretation or context. Additionally the author has taken the decision to abbreviate primary texts to things like “HB” etc after only one use of the full title. There are no footnotes to help readers either. I found this very distracting-I like to know my primary sources in full (especially when the ones primarily referred to are not well
February 4, 2023
This is definitely a great book to have people start with when looking to learn more about the kings and their archaeological presence. It was well-researched and eloquently written, although some of the organization and pacing felt a bit strange.
February 28, 2023
I read some historical fiction set at the time of the early Anglo-Saxon kings and this book made me learn something more about the historical setting and the kings.
It's a good book to start learning about this historical time.
It's a good book to start learning about this historical time.
January 26, 2023
Mr. Tony Sullivan has produced a very serviceable history of early England. Pen and Sword continue to put out quality products by authors who are passionate about their subjects.
January 31, 2023
An interesting and informative look at Britain after the Romans left that is a must read for anyone looking to learn more about the era of Arthurian legends.
July 1, 2025
Scrapes a 3.
March 5, 2023
My understanding of Anglo-Saxons, before this book, was shallow. Cartoons and contemporary movies and tv series were all I had to base it on. My South African history didn’t really cover them. Despite this, I followed Tony Sullivan’s deep dive into the early Anglo-Saxon Kings and found it a scintillating read! I especially appreciated the way in which the author recognised where our definitive knowledge ends and speculation begins…and there is a lot of speculation.
This period of history is full of questions but I found the interesting, person-centred, approach different from some history books which go from battle to battle. It speaks to the way of life, how global factors affected the transitions, and how these Kings contributed to the Britain we have today.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, I read it through in quick time wanting to know what happened next! If you love learning more about history, I highly recommend it. It’s a five out of five on enJOYment scale.
This period of history is full of questions but I found the interesting, person-centred, approach different from some history books which go from battle to battle. It speaks to the way of life, how global factors affected the transitions, and how these Kings contributed to the Britain we have today.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, I read it through in quick time wanting to know what happened next! If you love learning more about history, I highly recommend it. It’s a five out of five on enJOYment scale.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews