if you're looking for a book that can separate the Anglo-Saxons from the Romans and Celts plus the other tribes inhabiting the Isles before the arrival of the Saxons don't look here. In fact I don't think anyone using all of the sources available plus the most recent archaeology ever could.Since Britain was heavily Romanized in the 1st century AD,especially in the southeastern parts and around present day London,one could have serious questions about the arrival of the Saxons during and after this period,Were the Saxons brought over as Roman slaves for military and labor purposes.As one author in Campbell's series has stated,"There is NO history or records on slavery during this period",it definitely existed during this period and a lack of info on this vital subject leaves major gaps in any attempt at discovery.The author admits to the critical shortage of acurate writings and records from the "Dark Age" period although more light has come on this period from numerous scholarly works recently.Even the most famous Anglo-Saxon archaeological relic of the period the Sutton-Hoo mask can be debated. Is it in fact a post -Roman copy of a Roman military parade mask? I have seen a few of the Roman masks and they are almost identical and a few hundred years before the Sutton-Hoo mask. Some of the treasures pictured in the book were actually found on the continent and the author states,"They(May Be) of Anglo-Saxon origin so he admits he might be wrong. The coin stashes found and presented in the book are both Roman and Continental?Whomever controls the minting of the coin usually has the power so is my read of Campbell that far off?The image of boatloads of Anglo-Saxon freebooters,arriving in postRoman Britain shouting "power to the peasants" is shattered in this work.The Anglos,Saxons and the Jutes probably arrived in large numbers and during different periods as possible contracted labor,mercenaries,concubines,(slaves)? and were gobbled up rapidly by the nations/tribes(including previously arrived Anglo-Saxons) already established in the isles,at least that is(MY) read of Campbells'book.I have heard it said on occasion that the WestSaxon tongue was the language of slaves.Would it be the first time in history that slave-lingo took over a country?This is not to say that the Anglo-Saxons did not make a major contribution to English law and culture.The numerous essays and descriptions of the works of art and law by the Anglo-Saxons included in the book leave one in awe.But how much of this was the result of Roman and other Continental influences?Good luck trying to separate it!!but it was never meant to be separated anyway.

if you're looking for a book that can separate the Anglo-Saxons from the Romans and Celts plus the other tribes inhabiting the Isles before the arrival of the Saxons don't look here. In fact I don't think anyone using all of the sources available plus the most recent archaeology ever could.Since Britain was heavily Romanized in the 1st century AD,especially in the southeastern parts and around present day London,one could have serious questions about the arrival of the Saxons during and after this period,Were the Saxons brought over as Roman slaves for military and labor purposes.As one author in Campbell's series has stated,"There is NO history or records on slavery during this period",it definitely existed during this period and a lack of info on this vital subject leaves major gaps in any attempt at discovery.The author admits to the critical shortage of acurate writings and records from the "Dark Age" period although more light has come on this period from numerous scholarly works recently.Even the most famous Anglo-Saxon archaeological relic of the period the Sutton-Hoo mask can be debated. Is it in fact a post -Roman copy of a Roman military parade mask? I have seen a few of the Roman masks and they are almost identical and a few hundred years before the Sutton-Hoo mask. Some of the treasures pictured in the book were actually found on the continent and the author states,"They(May Be) of Anglo-Saxon origin so he admits he might be wrong. The coin stashes found and presented in the book are both Roman and Continental?Whomever controls the minting of the coin usually has the power so is my read of Campbell that far off?The image of boatloads of Anglo-Saxon freebooters,arriving in postRoman Britain shouting "power to the peasants" is shattered in this work.The Anglos,Saxons and the Jutes probably arrived in large numbers and during different periods as possible contracted labor,mercenaries,concubines,(slaves)? and were gobbled up rapidly by the nations/tribes already established in the isles,at least that is(MY) read of Campbells'book.I have heard it said on occasion that the WestSaxon tongue was the language of slaves.Would it be the first time in history that slave-lingo took over a country?This is not to say that the Anglo-Saxons did not make a major contribution to English law and culture.The numerous essays and descriptions of the works of art and law by the Anglo-Saxons included in the book leave one in awe.But how much of this was the result of Roman and other Continental influences?Good luck trying to separate it!!but it was never meant to be separated anyway.

if you're looking for a book that can separate the Anglo-Saxons from the Romans and Celts plus the other tribes inhabiting the Isles before the arrival of the Saxons don't look here. In fact I don't think anyone using all of the sources available plus the most recent archaeology ever could.Since Britain was heavily Romanized in the 1st century AD,one could have serious questions about the arrival of the Saxons during and after this period,Were the Saxons brought over as Roman slaves for military and labor purposes.The author admits to the critical shortage of acurate writings and records from the "Dark Age" period although more light has come on this period from numerous scholarly works recently.The image of boatloads of Anglo-Saxon freebooters,arriving in postRoman Britain shouting "power to the peasants" is shattered in this work.The Anglos,Saxons and the Jutes probably arrived sporadically,as possible contracted labor, and were gobbled up rapidly by the nations/tribes already established in the isles,at least that is my read of Campbells'book.The Anglo-Saxons don't seem to have the organization of the late arriving Vikings of the 8th Century.This is not to say that the Anglo-Saxons did not make a major contribution to English law and culture.The numerous essays and descriptions of the works of art and law by the Anglo-Saxons included in the book leave one in awe.But how much of this was the result of Roman and other Continental influences?Good luck trying to separate it!!but it was never meant to be separated anyway.

I recently used this text in a graduate course on the early Middle Ages. I like it because it does several things really well -- most of what is written about the period tends to focus on the period after Alfred the Great because historians are rightly dependent upon written sources that become relatively more plentiful in the later period. This text draws on archaeology really nicely and gives a lot of good visuals. The sidebar discussions of things like estimating the populations of medieval cities are really nice jumping off points for discussion. The book does gloss over several ongoing historiographical debates and becomes, I think, problematically idiosyncratic for the eleventh century. It also lacks discussion of some important issues such as institutional and military history (which is hard to write about in an engaging fashion) and women's history. I wouldn't use it in an undergrad course without a lot of supplementation.

The book is rich in detail, highly informative and well illustrated. The picture essays throughout the book are great, the ones on the cult of St. Cuthbert and the formation of boroughs I found particularly enjoyable.
Part history, part archeology the book tracks down and gives origins and backgrounds of the source materials that the authors use providing some great insight not normally found in other books on the subject. After reading this book, one can't help become an admirer of Bede. Also what I found interesting is that most of the book emphasizes the history of Anglo-Saxons ecclesiastically instead of following the monarchs like most others.
My one severe critizism of the book is that there is no mention of the Witanagemot anywhere. Other problems that I had were that the last third of the book was surpisingly a glossy overview of events. Which is ironic since that is the era of Saxon England that has the most detail. And the book can be dry in places.

It has been noted that this has been used as a text book and I can see why. But I do not recommend this as the first book to get regarding this subject. The authors expect you to have at least a general knowledge of Anglo-Saxon England, particularly when it comes to its kings. Those familiar with the history will find this an excellent addition to your library. Critizisms aside, this is an admirable work and I'm glad I bought it.

This well-illustrated volume provides an excellent introduction to the Anglo-Saxon period. The "picture essays" regarding coinage and other specialized topics help provide detail without interrupting what amounts to historic narrative.

The problems of using source documents are detailed as well as the triumphs of modern archealogy in expanding our understanding of this period of history.

The photographs, drawings, and maps compliment and support the text nicely.

Highly recommended as an introduction to the period and its people.

Written by three of the leading historians of the Anglo-Saxon period, this is easily the best introduction to its subject. The writing is authoritative yet accessible, giving a good idea not only of the course of Anglo-Saxon history, but also of the problems with the sources and of disputes within the historical community. Only in the final chapters, by Eric John, do major historical disputes sometimes go unnoted; one would not know, e.g., from his discussion of Harold Godwineson that some historians greatly respect Harold, or that not all historians believe that Edward the Confessor firmly intended William of Normandy to succeed him. To his credit, however, John's presentation here is more orthodox than elsewhere (for his unadulterated views, see his contentious and delightful Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England).

The physical presentation of the book is far more attractive than is usual for textbooks. It is in a large format and lavishly illustrated, including a number of color pictures, and has several good maps of England (although it is curiously lacking in maps illustrating the European context of English history, and it could also use genealogical tables to help sort through some of the myriad characters). The bibliography is good up to 1981, the original date of publication, but unfortunately it was not updated when Penguin reissued the book, and thus cannot take account of the scholarship of the past two decades. It also has, regrettably, "secret" endnotes at the back of the book, not signaled in the text, which often lead the reader to primary source material and some secondary discussions; it is well worth the reader's effort to seek out the endnotes periodically.

In short, The Anglo-Saxons is highly recommended for anybody seeking a general introduction to the history of this period. My highest praise is that when I taught a university course on Anglo-Saxon history, this is the only book I considered for a main textbook.