The First Kingdom

By: Max Adams

Narrated by: Kris Dyer

The best-selling author of The King in the North turns his attention to the obscure era of British history known as 'the age of Arthur'.

Somewhere in the dim void between the departure from Britain of the Roman legions at the start of the fifth century and the days of the venerable Bede, the kingdoms of Early Medieval Britain were formed. But by whom? And out of what?

Max Adams scrutinises the narrative handed down to us by later historians and chronicles, stripping away the most lurid nonsense about Arthur and synthesising the research of the last 40 years to tease out strands of reality from myth.

His central theme evolves from an apparently simple question: how, after the end of the Roman state, were people taxed? Rejecting ethnic and nationalist explanations for the emergence of the Early Medieval kingdoms, Adams shows how careful use of a wide range of perspectives, from anthropology to geography, can deliver a picture of the emergence of distinct polities in the sixth century that survive long enough to be embedded in the medieval landscape, recorded in the lines of river, road and watershed and in place names.

©2021 Max Adams (P)2021 W F Howes

New knowledge appreciated

A little confusing in terms of time and location specification. Also I found the sources scarce. But appreciated the theme, which rarely is approached by scholars.

Rock solid.

A fantastic, expansive dive into a murky period of history that isn’t plumbed often enough. It’s easy to get lost in the variously repeating surnames but the book is very forgiving and keeps you entertained throughout.

Very interesting, but not in my truck

I listen to audio books in my truck. This book, although well written, and well delivered, and I do enjoy the subject, was impossible for me to follow while driving. Anything happens do distract me for ten seconds and I fall behind and I cannot catch up. I will try again in the house, with maps, sitting, alone.