Customer Reviews

Roman Britain and Early England: 55 B.C.-A.D. 871 (Norton Library History of England)

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In the first chapter of this excellent history, Blair spends 30 pages discussing the sources for this 900 year span of time. This alone would make "Roman Britain and Early England" one of the best books on this period. The discussion is lucid and illuminating, and goes some way to dispelling the "Dark Ages" label which implies that Saxon Britain was home to little more than shaggy barbarians. Blair points out, for example, that the fifth and sixth centuries have more written sources than the second and third, under Roman Britain. But the main value of this chapter is that it clarifies just what the limitations on our understanding of this history are -- the sources are, for example, overwhelmingly Christian.

The rest of the book falls fairly neatly into two halves. The first half covers Roman Britain. There are three chapters giving the chronological events from Julius Caesar to the outbreak of war in 367, when the Picts, Scots and Saxons launched a major attack on Roman Britain. The next three chapters step back to take a look at life in the Roman towns and countryside, and at what we know of Roman religious practices. The second half picks up the chronological story from the restoration of the borders of Roman Britain by Theodosius in 370, through the abandonment of Britain by Rome in 410, to the convulsions with the Saxons. Four of these chapters take us to the succession of Alfred in 871, and then two final chapters review the religious conversion of the Anglo-Saxons and the nature of life in Saxon times.

Blair is a thoughtful and interesting writer. He takes the time to review points of controversy or debate, giving his own opinion but citing arguments on both sides. For example, in chapter 7 he gives an interesting discussion of the question of how widespread Christianity was in Roman Britain. He points out that Christianity did not demand the manufacture of cult objects that could be conclusively associated with Christian worship, as did many other cults, and that this has distorted the archaeological record.

There are adequate maps, but the period depends so strongly on local geography that it would be wise to read this with an atlas to hand. I had heard of the Weald, for example, but didn't know exactly where it was located or how it might be a barrier to the expansion of a kingdom. Constant references to England's major (and minor) towns of the period will also slow you down if you don't know English geography fairly well -- the map shows places important in the past, but less so now, such as Silchester, but it can't show every river -- I had to look up several, such as the Nene.

Overall, this is definitely the best summary history of this period I've read. Strongly recommended.

Blair is an expert in his field and covers the material of Roman Britian and Anglo-Saxon England very well. For an area of history that relatively little is known about, Blair creates a clear and full picture of life and politics of this time. Writing this book after Blair was already established in his field, "Roman Britian and Anglo-Saxon England, 55 BC to 871 AD", is easy to follow. However, a general understanding or rudementary backround of the subject is helpful. Blair is quick to state the ambiquity of the sources and evidence surviving from the time period which only increases his repute as an accomplished historian. This book is highly recommended for anyone wishing to take a serious look at Roman Britian and Anglo-Saxon England with the security of knowing it is from a trusted source.

Peter Blair provides an understandable account of early England during the Roman occupation and subsequent Anglo-Saxon era. Early in the book Blair makes it clear historical written information about this period is quite limited, particularly after the Roman occupation. However, with sources such as Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and poems such as Beowulf, Blair paints a fairly detailed picture of England from 55 BC to AD 871. I found the book to be quite readable even for someone with limited prior knowledge of the period.

Simply put, I agree with the other reviewers, in that this is a readable, good introduction to the history of England. The author did seem to have made certain assumptions about the reader's familiarity with the geography of England, i.e. place names, etc. There were a few maps that shed quite a bit of light on the location of places and peoples, but I had to search them out. A few more maps, and descriptive maps that illustrated the movement of troops, tribes or progression of battles would have added so much to this book. A good companion, from the Roman history point of view, is the Penguin Illustrated Atlas of Ancient Rome, which covers Caesar's and later Rome's experiences in England.

Blair's book is extremely readable and well-organized. I would agree with earlier comments about the need for more maps and explanations of some of the locations; however, this is an inherent problem when dealing with large time spans and numerous events. I kept a marker by the map of Roman Britain on p. 59 and went there frequently in the first half of the book. The second half that covers the Anglo-Saxon settlements is somewhat better mapped out. The map of the 7th century kingdoms on p. 209 was especially helpful and is critical for the later history of English development. However, all the maps in the book could have more detail.

The opening chapter on the Roman and early medieval sources is well done but there is one major problem with source material and that is what has been found, especially in archaeology, after the book's publication in 1966. I had the sense at times that the material could be updated, most notably regarding the Romans. The book has a useful Index but no footnotes. The "Further Reading" does not go beyond the early 60's.

Nevertheless, Blair's use of Roman and Anglo-Saxon source material is effective. He is able to talk about the limitations of the sources in the book without that replacing the flow of his narrative. I learned a great deal not only about the Romans and early Christianity in England but also about the sources of names and the long-term legacy left by the Romans. Despite the problem of the book being over 40 years old, it is still an exceptionally well-organized and clear resource for the 900 years of Roman and Anglo-Saxon life in England up to Alfred.

There is not much to add but to say that this is a good introduction to early Britain history and despite the subject may be considered a little dry, the reading is totally fluid with a book containing images and maps. So for a small island like England, the country has a rich history spanning the Roman occupation, with Ceasar himself, to the Anglo-Saxon invasion -and there is plenty of archeological evidence explained by the author in order to understand this period of time.