Lost Realms: Histories of Britain from the Romans to the Vikings

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If there is no point in describing something I haven't seen by comparing it to a book or film I haven't read, then comparing historical incidents and characters to fictional characters, places and events even when I do know them (he's fond of the film 'The Wicker man'), just blurs everything. In Lost Realms, Thomas Williams, bestselling author of Viking Britain, focuses on nine kingdoms representing every corner of the island of Britain.

Instead you are being given a plausible story for each of them given the information available through archeological finds and the texts we have (Bede being the ever present star of that show). He was a curator of the major international exhibition Vikings: Life and Legend in 2014 and is now Curator of Early Medieval Coins at the British Museum. I say attempt because the whole point is the incredible paucity of evidence: a lot of kings and some kingdoms may not have existed at all.

The subject matter is a point of fascination for me, though, and I liked the way he doesn't try and force a theory but lays them all out before you.Some curious choice of language used at times too, for example kipple, a colloquial word introduced in Philip K.

Actually rather beautifully written in its account of the people and realms that came and then disappeared from time leaving such fleeting and barely discernable remains. Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. I purchased this book after hearing an interview with Thomas Williams on a podcast, but I am now looking forward to reading more of his books. Lost Realms is a phenomenally well-written, often lyrical account of the post-Roman British Isle shrouded in the mists of time.

I found the chapters on Elmet and Rheged particularly fascinating, however, the entire volume held my interest from start to finish.

In Lost Realms, Thomas Williams, bestselling author of Viking Britain, uncovers the forgotten origins and untimely demise of nine kingdoms that hover in the twilight between history and fable, whose stories hum with saints and gods and miracles, with giants and battles and the ruin of cities. This is a part of history I am very interested in, and so have at least a passing familiarity with much of what was discussed, yet I at no point felt like I was retreading old ground. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. There's a lot of "probably" in this book but that makes it exciting but equally frustrating, such is the way of early medieval studies. It's a shame, since the author does draw parallels between developments in different geographical areas.This is a difficult historical topic to take on - Williams flat out says that if you aren't comfortable with minimal evidence and the liberal use of the word "possibly," this isn't the book for you. Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. A terrific attempt at a history of some of the kingdoms that rose and fell in Britain between the Romans and the Vikings. These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site.