Lost Realms: Histories of Britain from the Romans to the Vikings

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Wasting nine pages of the chapter on Dumnonia on a summary of Geoffrey of Monmoth's utterly non historical story is as baffling as the author's desire to tell the reader that the story of Arthur's conception makes him 'queasy'. Found the fleeting references to some of the more successful kingdoms more interesting than the minor kingdoms that ultimately gave way. This book focuses on the “Lost realms” of Britain, those that we know less of, smaller kingdoms that came and went alongside more well-known places that tend to hog the limelight due to the fact we know way more about them and that they were larger and longer established (think the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex). This is a part of history I am very interested in, and so have at least a passing familiarity with much of what was discussed, yet I at no point felt like I was retreading old ground. Ultimately I would have preferred some more stranger than fiction tales of characters, deeds and events - but that is not what this book is trying to do, so can't fault it.

The over all effect, and 'horny relish' is a good example, is of a style that sounds like the worse kind of tv history sacrificing accuracy for sound bites. A well written and cleverly structured look at the history of the British Isles during what is often referred to as the Dark Ages; the book focuses on nine of the smaller kingdoms present within that time frame, charting their individual histories from origin to demise. Overall a tougher read than expected, perhaps because of the poetry within the book sometimes confusing the chronology.The same might be said for the frequent over written passages that attempt to evoke the fading kingdoms.

Thomas Williams, to his credit, takes great care to make clear when he is making conjecture from the sources he used and so there are a lot of possiblys and probablys throughout.

If there is no point in describing something I haven't seen by comparing it to a book or film I haven't read, then comparing historical incidents and characters to fictional characters, places and events even when I do know them (he's fond of the film 'The Wicker man'), just blurs everything.

They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. This is the world of Arthur and Urien, of Picts and Britons and Saxon migrations, of magic and war, myth and miracle. Thomas Williams is a historian of the early Middle Ages and a former curator at the British Museum’s Department of Coins and Medals (2017-2018). Personally I was expecting this book to read a bit more story like from what I had heard, so I was a little disappointed at the hard going and fact heavy nature of most of the book. For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password.The less said about the little earnest cringe about the term Anglo-Saxon which forms a coda the better. Either way a thoroughly enjoyable book that even more brilliantly bring to life this period in my mind when I travel across the country! History which delves into our dim past and shatters the mythology but in doing so provides us with a much more interesting insight into who we truly were/are. Sometimes a point was made then we went off on a few tangents only to either come back to the point way later or never mention it at all.