Britain in the First Millennium

The first millenium in British history, a period framed by two invasions and conquests from across the Channel, is given a fresh portrayal in this innovative new account. It is the first time that Britain has been studied over the entire first millenium--or what might be called the 'long'first millenium, from the middle of the first century B.C. until the end of the eleventh century A.D.It was a fundamental period for the historical and cultural develpment of Britain. The incomplete nature of the Roman Conquest lies behind the separate development of Ireland and northern Scotland, and perhaps Wales. The events of the fifth and sixth centuries, the so-called Migration Period, led tothe remaking of the linguistic map. The arrival of Christianity was a major unifying event of the period in cultural terms. But it was the Vikings who ultimately brought about the unification of the English kingdom, and aided in the unification of the kingdom of Scotland, the two most significantpolitical developments of the latter part of the period, while the Norman Conquest inextricably tied subsequent medieval English monarchs into the politics of France.