Those interested in the period will surely have heard of Penda, Offa, and Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians ‒ but remarkably there is no single book that tells their story in its entirety, the story of the great kingdom of the midlands.
Historically, the records are in two halves, pre- and post-Viking, in the way they have been preserved. Pre-Viking, virtually all the source material was written by the victims, or perceived victims, of Mercian aggression and expansion. Post-Viking, the surviving documents tend to hail from places which were not sacked or burned by the Northmen, particularly from Wessex, the traditional enemy of Mercia. The inclusion of those records here allows for the exploration of Mercia post-924.
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 shows the important role the Mercians played in the forging of the English nation.
- Latest title in Amberley's Anglo-Saxon range
- Praise for the author: 'To Be A Queen' (the story of Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians) was
Editor’s Choice & Long-listed for Historical Novel Society Indie
book of the Year 2016
- Growing interest in Anglo-Saxon period following recent archaeological discoveries and TV series like Game of Thrones and The Last Kingdom
- Reviews in history magazines, national weeklies, national daily and Sunday newspapers, to include: The Independent and The Sunday Times, THES, and BBC History Magazine