Ed West

A witty and concise look at the beginnings of English history, when the nation consolidated after clashes between the Saxons and invading Vikings. In 871, three of England's four kingdoms were overrun by Vikings, the ruthless, all-conquering Scandinavian raiders who terrorised early medieval Europe. With the Norsemen murdering one king with arrows and torturing another to death by ripping out...

A riveting account of the most consequential year in English history, marked by bloody conflict with invaders on all sides. 1066 and Before All That is the most famous date in history, and with good reason, since no battle in medieval history had such a devastating effect on its losers as the Battle of Hastings, which altered the entire course...