The Birth of the Anglo-Saxons

Three Kings and a History of Britain at the Dawn of the Viking Age

Max Adams

A brilliant, profound, and authoritative history of the golden age of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Britain.

For too long, the eighth century has been a neglected era in British history: a shadow land between the death of Saint Bede and the triumphs of King Ælfred and the eventual unification of England.

But before the victories of King Ælfred against the Viking invaders, the kingdom of Mercia—spread across a broad swathe of central England—was the reigning power that exercised central political authority for the first time since the Roman Empire. This authority was used to construct trading networks and markets; to develop strong economic, cultural, and political links with the Continent; and to lay the foundations for a system of defense that would be invigorated and reinvented by Ælfred at the end of the ninth century.

Two kings, Æthelbald (716–757) and Offa (757–796), dominated the political landscape of the rising power of Mercia. During their reigns, monasteries became powerhouses of royal patronage, economic enterprise, and trade. Offa constructed his grandiose dyke along the borders of the warlike Welsh Kingdoms and, more subtly, spread his message of political superiority through coinage bearing his image. But Æthelbald and Offa between them built something with an even more substantial legacy—a geography of medieval England. And these two kings engineered a set of tensions between kingship, landholding, and the church that were to play out dramatically at the dawn of the Viking Age.

In this illuminating history of Early Medieval Britain, Max Adams reconnects the worlds of the three kings—Æthelbald, Offa, and Ælfred—in an absorbing study of the landscape, society, and politics of a fascinating century of change.

Max Adams is the author of Admiral Collingwood, The Prometheans, and The King in the North, all published in Great Britain. This is his first book to be published in the United States. A university professor, Max lives in the northeast of England.

Buy it now in print:

Buy it now in ebook:

Endorsements & Reviews

Praise for Max Adams’s The Viking Wars:

"An enjoyable book.” The New York Times Book Review

"A rich history of ninth- and 10th-century Britain." Publishers Weekly (starred)

"A scholarly narrative of the Vikings in King Alfred's Britain. The author is commendably strict on historical accuracy. Impeccably researched. Readers will gather a wealth of knowledge." Kirkus Reviews

"This is much more than a book about the Vikings versus King Alfred. Adams’s great achievement is to cover events throughout the whole of Britain with some excursions into Ireland and Europe as well." The Times Literary Supplement

"The most elaborate picture yet made of what the Viking raids actually meant to the people who endured them. This year has seen a small bumper-crop of excellent books about the Viking Age, and Adams has written the best of the bunch, the lively-yet-scholarly modern epic history the tale deserves." Open Letters Review

"This is a beautifully crafted and impeccably compiled book, and one that is certainly a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in the events and figures that molded Britain during the reign of the Vikings." All About History