In Progress - The Poor Cnights Recommended Reading List

This reading list is not meant to be definitive. There are many lists compiled by various societies involved in this period some are very academic and some for the layperson. Those published by Universities all tend to be good, the problem tends to be basis of their interpretation, which can confuse some issues. The books in this list are those that are recommended to group members as they create the principle view of the Anglo-Saxon period held by the Poor Cnights.Further reading can be found HERE.

Abels, R.P. (1988) Lordship and Military obligation in Anglo-Saxon England   British Museum Pres

This is an excellent work that gives the method of putting together the Anglo-Saxon armies and shows how this affected the society. It shows Anglo-Saxon England as a hierarchical society in which kings were the lords of warrior bands and warfare was the right and duty of aristocrats and their sworn men. The gift of land and the reciprocal gift of service lay at the heart of the military organisation of pre-Viking England. This evolved but the essentials changed little until the Conquest. Anglo-Saxon warriors fought to satisfy personal oaths and fulfil the duty rooted in the land they held.

Austerberry, J. (1984) Chad, Bishop and Saint   English Life Publications Ltd.

A brief account of the life and mythology of the man himself!

Campbell, J. ed. The Anglo-Saxons Penguin Books

A good book to begin with. It gives an overview of the whole period. Lots of pictures!

Higham, N.J. (1993) The Kingdom of Northumbria Alan Sutton Publishing

An excellent work that has a good academic base but doesn’t shove it in your face. It describes Mercia’s northern neighbour throughout this period. Many comparisons can be made with the development and fall of Northumbria with the other Anglo-Saxon states.

Lacey, R and Danziger,D. (1999) The Year 1000 Little, Brown and Company

Written in the style of modern investigative journalism, the authors research led them to a little known document of the period, the Julius Work Calendar. This is an observational guide to the human world of kings, saints, slaves and labourers, paganism and Christian faith.

This is an easy read but do not be fooled. It is a reasonable description of what life would have been like for the ordinary person.

Mitchell, B. (1995) An Invitation to Old English & Anglo-Saxon England Blackwell Publishers

This uses the Old English language drawn from the context of surviving literature to illuminate Anglo-Saxon history and society. An essential book that helps you to experience the richness of the Anglo-Saxon culture

Kent, J. (1997) The Mercia Manifesto

The future for Mercia!

Pollington, S (1989) The Warriors Way. England in the Viking Age   Blandford Press

The poem ‘The Battle of Maldon’ is used as a basis for a study of the pre-Conquest kingdom. It looks at the Anglo-Saxon concept of society, especially the military obligation imposed on the people by constant warfare and the new Christian religion. The author shows that the kingdom acquired by the Normans (bastards!) was united by war and compromise with the Vikings.

Pollington, S (1996) The English Warrior from earliest times to 1066  Anglo-Saxon Books

An attempt to get below the surface of Anglo-Saxon warriorhood and investigate the rites, social attitudes, mentality and mythology of the warfare in the Anglo-Saxon period

Stenton, Sir Frank (1971) Anglo-Saxon England Oxford University Press

The almost definitive guide to the period. It is a bit dated but no one has created a better work that covers the period. Gets all the important dates

Zaluckj, S. (2001) Mercia (The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of central England) Logaston Press

Shows the rise and decline of Mercia. Not an easy read but attempts to place Mercia as a political power during the development of Anglo-Saxon England.