Is this a book about a map or a map to accompany a book? Published in 1973 it is a handsome collaborative publication of Ordinance Survey It is the second in a series (the first was titled , Britain in the Dark ages), it takes the format of two large printed inserted loose maps in a rear folder showing the place names of villages, towns , settlements, defended fortresses, north and South of Britain before The Norman conquest , as Englsnd, Wales and Scotland were before 871 AD and 1066 AD. Comprising a relatively short text of only 29 pages, a bibliography , a gazeteer or index of places and The two map sheets . The purpose of the work is to offer a map of Britain as it was in the AngloSaxon period . The value of this project is in showing The interplay of three forces, Anglo Saxon , Scandinavian and Celtic . The Roman empire in Britain had long since collapsed and Rome had withdrawn but Roman roads and routes remained . Fortifications , mints, and burgesses in the towns of The 10th and 11th centuries were important differentiating features. London was in a class of its own, and the next seven important towns were York, Lincoln, Winchester, Chester , Norwich Exeter and Thetford . The Danelaw area and its five boroughs reflected the success of The Danish invasion of and settlement in the eastern part of Mercia, East Anglia and parts of Northumbria . Place names and archaeological evidence enable scholars to build a picture of Britain in that era. I found the chapter on the Christisn church in Britain particularly interesting with The founding of new monasteries, (eg Winchester and Glastonbury) and the organization of dioceses, churches and parishes explain much about The spread of Christianity . I learned that The earliest form of Manchesster (to me the heart of the 18th century industrial revolution ) goes back to the 10 th century and was called Mameceaster .
This is a good book for serious history and historical geography scholars and as it was reprinted in 1990s the original map and book of the 1970s are collectable and sought after, particularly if both map sheets are in tact .
a worthy addition to any cartography collection