This entirely new work replaces Myres' own part of the classic 'Collingwood and Myres'. The author has considered the period afresh in the light of the rapid proliferation of work on the subject since the eralier volume was published.

Here, Myres looks anew at the dark centuries of English history between the collapse of Roman rule in the early fifth century and the emergence of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the seventh--the subject of the now-classic Roman Britain and the English Settlements by Collingwood and Myres--and reconsiders the period in light of abundant recent research in the field. New linguistic findings have led to a significant shift in emphasis, which is now reflected in this last volume of the Oxford History of England. The author illuminates some of the little-understood factors that link Roman Britain with Anglo-Saxon England, and suggests certain political and social continuities that help to clarify this complex and traumatic historical era.

'This is a work of enviable erudition that will fascinate those interested in the supercession of one culture by another. It will be required reading for all students of early English history.' David A.E. Pelteret Albion