Dr Marc Morris is an historian and broadcaster. He is an expert on medieval monarchy and aristocracy, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Marc has written several books, numerous articles for magazines, and he has contributed to various history programmes on radio and television.

In this episode, Marc joins me to discuss his latest book. The Anglo-Saxons: A history of the beginnings of England, which is available to buy here: https://amzn.to/39GN6Sj

The story starts sixteen hundred years ago, when Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Grand cities and luxurious villas were deserted and left to crumble, and civil society collapsed into chaos. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea, and established themselves as its new masters.

In his book, Marc traces the turbulent history of these people across the next six centuries. He explains how their earliest rulers fought relentlessly against each other for glory and supremacy, and then were almost destroyed by the onslaught of the vikings. He explores how they abandoned their old gods for Christianity, established hundreds of churches and created dazzlingly intricate works of art. He charts the revival of towns and trade, and the origins of a familiar landscape of shires, boroughs and bishoprics. It is a tale of famous figures like King Offa, Alfred the Great and Edward the Confessor, but also features a host of lesser known characters - ambitious queens, revolutionary saints, intolerant monks and grasping nobles. Through their remarkable careers we see how a new society, a new culture and a single unified nation came into being.

In this show, we consider the history of London across this period. What was Roman London like? What happened to London when Roman rule collapsed? When and for what reasons did people return to London, and how did the city develop thereafter? How was it affected by the viking invasions of Britain? And, of course, how much can we really know?

If you are interested in the history of London, you might like my blog: http://ianstone.london/blog/

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www.ianstone.london