Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom
Out now in paperback 15 October 2020
Many people know about Wessex, the ‘Last Kingdom’ of the Anglo-Saxons in defence against the Danes, but another kingdom once enjoyed supremacy over not just Wessex, but all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
This is a history of Mercia, from the early seventh century right up to 1071 and the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, and features some familiar names - Offa, Æthelflæd, Lady Godiva - and some less familiar ones. It’s the story of the fluctuating fortunes of a kingdom that at one time controlled all of England south of the River Humber.
From Penda the pagan king and the origins of the Mercians themselves, through the periods of Offa the Great and Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, this book explores the history of not only the kings and queens, but the saints, sinners, earls and traitors who all contributed to this kingdom’s rich history.
Mercia ceased to be a kingdom when Alfred the Great came to power, but its history did not end there. Examining the roles of the great ealdormen in the anti-monastic reaction of the tenth-century, through the treachery of Eadric Streona in the eleventh, and the last, brave young earls who made a stand against William the Conqueror, this book completes the story of the Mercians and shows the important role they played in the forging of the English nation.
"Excellent scholarly account of what we do and don't know about the kingdom of Mercia." Edoardo Albert, author of The Northumbrian Thrones Trilogy
"Scholarly and readable ... one of the clearest pictures of the Mercian kingdom so far." Tony Riches, author of The Tudor Trilogy
"Rich in detail, this is a must-have book for anyone interested in the English midlands, and Anglo-Saxon history." Sharon Bennett Connolly, author of Heroines of the Medieval World and Silk and the Sword: Women of the Conquest
Winner of a Discovering Diamonds Award and Short-listed for their Book of the Month October 2018 and #1 Amazon bestseller
