William Pearson is a retired design engineer who for much of his life has been an amateur historian and archaeologist. Articles by him on these subjects have appeared in the journals of various societies in the north-east of England. He is a former Member of the Institute of Linguists and currently a member of the English Place-Name Society, the Cleveland and Teesside Local History Society and the Teesside Archaeological Society, having served as Chairman of the last. Decades ago, friendsh...

Let us start with the obvious. Living matter, having once emerged from obscure beginnings on this planet Earth - the home selected for it in the Universe - has continued to exist in countless different forms right to the present time. As a means to cope with the enormous diversity involved, natural scientists have created a comprehensive classification system. This enables one to get a grasp of the complexities of the chronological and biological relationships that all forms of life bear t...

These poems range from the nonsensical, through reflections on personal experiences, to comments on the state of the planet upon which we all live. During a long lifetime, diverse interests or specific events—either in the author’s personal life or in the wider world—have led to an emotional artistic outlet being sought in the composition of poetry. The work leads off with a limerick. This is exemplary of the style usually followed, namely one based on rhyme and rhythm. The bulk of the wor...

Erik Bloodaxe and Egil Skallagrimsson came to the fore, both for their narrative possibilities and examples of how events of the Viking period have come to be distorted and misunderstood. The eventual result is this book. The life of Erik begins with his background and career in Norway followed by his overseas adventures. After seizing power in northern England, he met a violent death there. Also covered is much of the life of the Icelander Egil Skallagrimsson, who tried his best to be a t...

The epic poem "Beowulf" has been explored by many scholars, but personal acquaintance revealed that some important aspects always seem to have been overlooked. This book's intention was to correct such omissions, but discrepancy turned out to be widespread. Rather than being solely a contribution to Scandinavia's history, the material mainly illustrates aspects of English origins as viewed by one of their own kind. A post-Roman doomed culture arose in eastern England. Largely ignored in En...

In AD 793 Norse warriors struck the English isle of Lindisfarne and laid waste to it. Wave after wave of Norse ‘sea-wolves’ followed in search of plunder, land, or a glorious death in battle. Much of the British Isles fell before their swords, and the continental capitals of Paris and Aachen were sacked in turn. Turning east, they swept down the uncharted rivers of central Europe, captured Kiev and clashed with mighty Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.But there is...

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour.During the year 1066, England had three different kings and fought three huge battles in defence of the realm, including the bloody Battle of Hastings. The result was the Norman Conquest which defined England during the Middle Ages.1066 in an Hour will guide you through the politics and personalities of the Norman invasion. It will help you understand why William the Conqueror was victorious and introduce you to the new ...

A look at what world history might have been like if not for the fall of the Western Roman Empire.This is a fascinating exploration of how the history of Europe, and indeed the world, might have been different if the Western Roman Empire had survived the crises that pulled it apart in the fourth and fifth centuries.The author starts by showing how that survival and recovery might plausibly have happened if several relatively minor things had been different....

The historian and archeologist presents a vivid and comprehensive account of warfare in early Medieval England.In this compelling new study, Paull Hill reveals what documentary records and the growing body of archaeological evidence can tell us about war and combat in the age of the great Anglo-Saxon kings. The violent centuries before the Norman Conquest come to life in this detailed account of how and why the Anglo-Saxons fought, how their warriors were armed and ...

This biography of an overlooked but important Anglo-Saxon ruler sheds light on the Dark Ages of England.In the eighth century, Offa ruled Mercia, one of the strongest Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. For over thirty years he was the dominant warlord in the territory south of the Humber River and the driving force behind the expansion of Mercia's power. During that turbulent period, Offa commanded Mercian armies in their struggle against the neighboring kingdoms of Northumbria ...

One of the greatest medieval warriors Harald Sigurdsson, nicknamed Hardrada (Harold the Ruthless or hard ruler) fell in battle in an attempt to snatch the crown of England. The spectacular and heroic career which ended at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire on 25 September 1066 had taken Harald from Norway to Russia and Constantinople and saw him gain a kingdom by force and determination rather than right or inheritance. He was one of the most feared rulers in Europe and was firs...

Back in print by popular demand--"A stunning revelation of the historical Macbeth, harsh and brutal and eloquent." --Washington Post Book World.With the same meticulous scholarship and narrative legerdemain she brought to her hugely popular Lymond Chronicles, our foremost historical novelist travels further into the past. In King Hereafter, Dorothy Dunnett's stage is the wild, half-pagan country of eleventh-century Scotland. Her hero is an ungainly...