A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons cover art

A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons

Brief Histories

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons

By: Geoffrey Hindley
Narrated by: Eleanor David
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £15.77

Buy Now for £15.77

About this listen

Starting AD 400 (around the time of their invasion of England) and running through to the 1100s (the 'Aftermath'), historian Geoffrey Hindley shows the Anglo-Saxons as formative in the history not only of England but also of Europe. The society inspired by the warrior world of the Old English poem Beowulf saw England become the world's first nation state and Europe's first country to conduct affairs in its own language, and Bede and Boniface of Wessex establish the dating convention we still use today. Including all the latest research, this is a fascinating assessment of a vital historical period.

About the author: Geoffrey Hindley is an acclaimed Medievalist. His many books include The Shaping of Europe, Saladin: a Biography, The Book of Magna Carta, and A Brief History of the Crusades.

©2013 Geoffrey Hindley (P)2013 Audible Ltd Ancient Europe Great Britain Medieval England Middle Ages Norse Viking Crusade

Critic reviews

"This is an excellent assessment of a vital historical epoch from one of our most respected medievalists" ( Good Book Guide, July 1, 2006)
All stars
Most relevant
Covers the history, origins and culture of England and the English people and language. Quite dense as an audio book.

informative if dense at times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
an in-depth history of British history of Saxon times an enjoyable book. over quite a few hours good it has chapters to stop and restart.

very good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A politically biased view of the historical period but quite informative and an easy listen.

Informative but

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
excellent
succinct account if our history. well read. easy to follow.
thanks. I enjoyed it

excellent. succinct account of our history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Ok. From the start, you have to persevere with this one. At first it seems impenetrable - at least the first half of the book is a bombardment of facts, dates, names and hypotheses, and the head swims just taking it all on board. Add to that that within the general chronology of the book there's a fair amount of date-jumping, you could almost give up. After a while, however, I realised that it's not the author's inability to connect with his audience as I had first perceived it. Alright, it would make for easier digestion if he had more of a Tom Holland talent for telling the story of history instead of throwing the facts at you, but I have to say - and sorry Eleanor David - her narration of the book is, although clear....er....well, uncharismatic. Almost too proper. It's the only audio book I've ever spent so much time jumping back a minute or two to re-listen to parts because I zoned out. But, that aside, when the Vikings appear on the scene, Hindley starts to get more into the flow of telling the story of history and it all gets a lot better. Shame it took so long.

All in all, this is an often confusing but useful book for those interested in the subject. If you're new to the Anglo Saxons, I'd recommend starting with Michael Drout's excellent and fun lecture and then use this one to fill in any gaps.

Hard work. But...not bad.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews