Non-Fiction
Shortlisted for Book of the Month
8th - 11th Centuries
Non-Fiction
Not that anyone will, but I do hope no
one ever asks me to write a serious factual history book. The research involved
must be phenomenal. Continuously checking and cross checking the sources, the
difficulties of conflicting 'evidence' and how much can a known spurious source
be relied upon? Not to mention indexing or going to some remote place to
photograph a field that was once important but few people today are aware of
its existence, let alone its significance.
These will have been just some of the
difficulties that Annie Whitehead must have experienced whilst compiling a much
needed history of one of our greater Dark Age kingdoms. Just why there are few
histories of Mercia is quite simple; there is little written that could be
termed 'contemporary' and many documents
still extant were written by 'enemies' of Mercia, most notably Mr Bede, of whom
every school child knows. Sorting wheat from chaff, however, is the lot of the
historian – and make no mistake that for all her fame as a writer of historical
fiction, Annie Whitehead is a genuine historian – and the author manages to
present the evidence with no hint of bias and without reaching conclusions to
suit any personal theories.
Beginning in the 7th Century
with Penda, Ms Whitehead takes us through the major and minor kings of Mercia as
well as just how and when Mercia ceased to become a kingdom but slipped into
being 'just' an earldordom. Thus we are able to meet the great king Offa,
Æthelred and Æthelflæd ('The Lady of the Mercians') and through to the
notorious Eadric Streona and the last Mercian earls, Leofric and Edwin. The
subtitle is The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom and in this telling we can see
quite clearly how this is appropriate to Mercia. The might of Penda challenged
the territories around and he expanded the Mercian borders; Offa took the
kingdom to its greatest heights but then it began to founder with the emergence
of Alfred and Wessex. It is perhaps ironic that Mercia was forged in war yet
split apart by peace and marriage before the final coup de grace delivered by the Normans.
The prose is quite readable and, more to
the point, fascinatingly interesting. History books can be 'stuffy' or hard to
follow, but I did not find this here. The arguments are presented based on what
is known or surmised and, where the source (William of Malmesbury or Geoffrey
of Monmouth, for example) is known to be questionable, an informed examination
and comparison with other sources follows.
This is a book that should be on many
bookshelves both domestic and public. Libraries in the areas once part of this
ancient kingdom should be falling over themselves to get hold of a copy, and
students of this time of English history will welcome the straightforward and
honest approach that the author gives.
Highly recommended
© Richard Tearle
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Thank you so much for this fabulous review and the award of a 'Diamond'!
ReplyDeleteA true pleasure, Annie. I'm thrilled for you
ReplyDelete