'No one has done more than Michael Livingston to revive memories of
the battle, and you could not hope for a better guide.' BERNARD CORNWELL
Bestselling author of The Last Kingdom series
Late in AD 937, four armies met in a place called Brunanburh. On one
side stood the shield-wall of the expanding kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons.
On the other side stood a remarkable alliance of rival kings - at least
two from across the sea - who'd come together to destroy them once and
for all. The stakes were no less than the survival of the dream that
would become England. The armies were massive. The violence, when it
began, was enough to shock a violent age. Brunanburh may not today have
the fame of Hastings, Crécy or Agincourt, but those later battles,
fought for England, would not exist were it not for the blood spilled
this day. Generations later it was still called, quite simply, the
'great battle'. But for centuries, its location has been lost.
Today, an extraordinary effort, uniting enthusiasts, historians,
archaeologists, linguists, and other researchers - amateurs and
professionals, experienced and inexperienced alike - may well have found
the site of the long-lost battle of Brunanburh, over a thousand years
after its bloodied fields witnessed history. This groundbreaking new
book tells the story of this remarkable discovery and delves into why
and how the battle happened. Most importantly, though, it is about the
men who fought and died at Brunanburh, and how much this forgotten
struggle can tell us about who we are and how we relate to our past.
