Books like Winters in the World — picked by fans

Queen Emma, wife to both Æthelred the ‘Unready’ (d. 1016) and then to Cnut (d. 1035), and Queen Edith, wife to Edward the Confessor (d. 1066), lived through some of the most turbulent and interesting politics of the early medieval period.

We are permitted unusual access to their lives through eleventh-century texts either directly about them (the Encomium Emmae) or commissioned by them (the Vita Edwardi). Stafford wonderfully brings to the fore their pivotal roles in English politics across the eleventh century, and, in doing so, shines the spotlight on the position of women in medieval society more generally. 

I first read this book as a student and found it utterly enthralling.

Having grown up in Durham myself, I’ve long been interested in the history of the north of England. Bloodfeud vividly portrays early eleventh-century Northumbria, at a time when King Cnut had just taken control and was trying to impose his authority.

The book plunges you into the politics of the Northumbrian aristocracy and some of the ways in which Cnut approached the governance of this part of the English kingdom. The sources on which Fletcher relies are scanty and complex, but he masterfully brings them to life. 

This book provides an accessible translation of one of the most important texts to have survived from the reign of King Alfred the Great.

Having acceded in 871, Alfred’s early reign was beset by Viking raids before a military victory in 878 afforded the king some respite in the 880s. But peace was shattered in the early 890s with the return of the Vikings from their raids on the continent. It was at this point, in 893, that Asser, a Welsh cleric in service at Alfred’s court, first published his account of Alfred’s life.

Asser takes us to the heart of Alfred’s court at a period of high political tension with details about Alfred’s life and his abilities, all with one principal aim in mind: to win over his readers (particularly the Welsh) to Alfred’s cause, and thus to save the kingdom from further Viking inroads.

It is electrifying to handle a coin from the early medieval period.

A typical coin from late tenth-century England will be made of silver, will have the king’s name, title, and bust imprinted on one side, and the name of the moneyer and of the mint on the other. These details alone raise questions: how was the coin used and by how many people? Where was it accepted and what kind of goods could it buy?

Rory Naismith, a leading historian and numismatist, provides answers to these questions and illuminates the development of the coinage system from the fall of Rome in the fifth century right through to the twelfth century. And his focus is exceptionally broad, taking in much of north-western Europe. It is an invaluable account that transforms our understanding of how money was actually used in the early medieval period.   

Patrick Wormald’s early death was a tragedy for early medieval studies as a whole.

Thankfully his former student, Stephen Baxter – an exceptional scholar in his own right – had the energy to carry some of his mentor’s projects over the line, including this collection of some of Wormald’s best essays, articles, and book chapters relating to Bede and his world.

Patrick was also my tutor for several undergraduate courses at Oxford as well as being the supervisor for my Master's Thesis and I too owe him a great debt. This edited collection – with the advantage of updated references and comments – showcases the searing brilliance which made Wormald such a prized commentator on everything connected to the early Middle Ages.

Coupled with Campbell's Essays in Anglo-Saxon History, readers will quickly gain nuanced perspectives on elements and themes crucial in comprehending the conversion of the early English.

This book covers the entirety of the history of the Anglo-Saxons in their own words. Like Bede’s History, it suffers from bias, depending on the scribe writing each section and what kingdom they inhabited, but it is a fascinating year-by-year account of the rise and fall of kings and clergy, and of the battles and natural phenomena faced by the people of early medieval Britain.

This is the granddaddy of history books about the Anglo-Saxons. Much of the history has evolved and moved on since its original publication in the 1940s, but Sir Frank Stenton is comprehensive and thorough and the resulting tome is jam-packed with information.

Menewood, the name of the valley where she builds her personal stronghold, picks up where Hild ended. I simply had to find out what happened next! It was a riotous journey of violence, hunger, and work, yet also the raw beauty of her world: trees, birds, valleys, and hills. Her language continues to be rich and abundant with details, good and painful.

The political complexity and even savagery of her time echo our own. Yet Hild remains a unique and complicated woman who is heroic in every sense of the word. Again, the actress who read the book does a stunning job, especially pronouncing some very foreign Saxon names. I look forward to the next book, which I insist must be a series. After all, Hild will become a powerful abbess at Whitby. 

Aethelstan is an engrossing account of king Aethelstan, lauded as the first crowned king of ‘England,’ something his father, and more importantly, his grandfather, King Alfred, was unable to lay claim to. It’s a thorough examination of all that’s known about Aethelstan during his reign. It’s rare to get a book dedicated to any one single king before the reign of Æthelred II, who was Aethelstan’s great, great-nephew, and reigned thirty years later. The work shows just how much can be gleaned about historical figures during this period by experts in the field, who know how to unpick all the complicated details and present them to readers in an engaging format.

To my mind, James Campbell was the greatest commentator on early Anglo-Saxon England of the last sixty years.

He was my tutor at Oxford for a course on early Anglo-Saxon history and archaeology, and he inspired me to recognise just how much of the so-called “Dark Ages” can be brought to light via a combination of rigour in analysis and creativity in reconstruction.

Campbell’s seminal articles on Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, included in this edited collection, transformed Bedan studies and set out the path forward for the next generation of scholars, although much more remains to be done – particularly in connection with identifying Bede’s sources and unpacking the chronology of the composition of his History.

If you want to understand the conversion of Anglo-Saxon England, you need to understand Bede’s Ecclesiastical History; and if you want to understand Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, you have to understand Bede. The quest will… show more.