Offa and the Mercian Wars: The Rise and Fall of the First Great English Kingdom Paperback – July 10, 2017

I enjoyed this book. I learned a great deal about the period, the historical figures involved, and the evidence they left behind. I think anyone interested in the period would gain from the research. My only caveat against a 5 rating is that the topics seem to be somewhat scattered. There seemed to be a lot of back and forth across the historical timeline, and I had a bit of trouble keeping things straight.Definitely would recommend this to others.

Given as a gift and really being enjoyed and appreciated.

First posted on Amazon.co.uk on 12 August 2012"Offa and the Mercian wars" is one of the better volumes on the Pen and Sword collection. The book is well structured, with maps and a genealogical table listing the Mercian Kings. The introduction and the three first chapters, which lay the scene and provide the context, are impressive.The introduction presents the main sources for the period, the chronicles and a few charters, but also the archaeological findings. This presentation is short, to the point, but nevertheless quite comprehensive with the main points being made without any of the endless discussions on the reliability of the respective sources (or lack of it) that I had feared and which can be somewhat tedious for a general reader.The other three contextual chapters deal, respectively, with the geography and the land, presenting what were the strategic issues that the Kings of Mercia had to deal with, the coming of the Angles and the Kingdoms and armies that ruled over the central part of what is now England. The author embraces the current and modern thesis that the "real" Angles - that is does that had come from overseas and their descendants - were probably a minority among the total population (some 10-15%), although they constituted the upper class. This thesis, which has become common among authors and historians working on the Dark Ages across what made up the old Provinces of the Western Roman Empire, is more likely than what we used to be taught at school about the huge hordes of Barbarians that sweep over the borders as tidal waves.The fourth chapter examines the reigns of the first Kings of Mercia, the ones who came to progressively dominate a couple of dozen of other kingdoms and, at least to some extent, integrate them into the kingdom. Here again, the author presents a rather good summary of the extant of current research, showing for instance that the population of the eastern part of Mercia was Breton, with perhaps a sprinkling of Angles.He then examines the reign of Penda, the first of the most well-known of the Mercian Kings (chapter 4) and then moves to examine his successors, and Offa in particular. This is where I was a bit disappointed: these two chapters read mostly as a collection of names of places, people, battles and dates, though this is not the fault of the author but rather reflects the paucity of the written sources. This is where the period might still deserve his traditional name of "Dark Ages". Here again, however, archaeology can help, with chapter 4 being devoted to the two major finds of Sutton Hoo and of the Staffordshire hoard. There is more, however, on Offa, as the next chapter presents "The Warrior in the Age of the Mercian Kings" and the one after that focuses on the main features of Offa's long reign (AD 757-796) and Kingdom.The last two chapters focus on the decline of Mercia (and the rise of Wessex) after the death of Offa, but also on the coming of Vikings and the wars against them. This includes the reigns of Alfred and his predecessors and successors, with a special piece on the Lady of Mercia (Alfred's daughter who ruled Mercia rather effectively). This is where I somewhat felt that the book lost a bit of the focus on Mercia, as the author summarizes the Viking wars. He also assumes that the Vikings' initial lack of interest for Mercia would have been because of its relative strength, which I did not find entirely convincing.Interestingly, for those who are fans of Cornwell's series on Uthred, you will meet the historical Aethelred (who seems to have been a good deal better than Cornwell has made him to be) and his wife Aethelflaed (the Lady of Mercia).This was a very interesting summary on a period on which I previously knew not very much and it is worth a solid four stars.

Ridiculous price but good book. You can get it at the pen and sword website for cheaper lol.

Athelbold and Offa together reigned nearly 80 years. That is a very long time for two back-to-back kings for any Angle or Saxon kingdom in the entire period known as Anglo-Saxon England. Offa was arguably more powerful and had a far more stable reign than nearly any other Angle or Saxon King. No king of England, after Offa, had a longer reign until the reign of King Henry III in the 13th century. The problem that this book has is that the subject has so little extant evidence about him. This is most probably due to the destruction wrought by the Danes as well as West Saxon propaganda wishing to diminish anything that might eclipse their kings. To be fare Wessex had the worst of matters since it had to deal with masses of Danes rampaging all over the place, with the Merican kingdom of the 8th century avoiding all that. Offa was certainly the most pretentious of Anglo Saxon kings, at least as pretentious as Athelstan. Anyway read the book. It is not bad. Sadly there, barring the discovery of any more writing of the period, Offa is going to remain a shadowy figure more known for his effects on others.

While not bad, this book is a little disappointing. Offa really shouldn't be mentioned in the title, any more than another historical figure, as the section dealing with him is rather brief and half of it serves to try to undermine and discount his achievements. Though context is important, it sometimes feels as if the author was trying to pad the book with info that is shoehorned in, breaking the narrative flow regarding the history of Mercia, itself.

A summary of the review on StrategyPage.Com:'King Offa of Mercia (r. 757-796) ruled what are today the English Midlands. Long regarded as the most effective Anglo-Saxon ruler before Alfred the Great, this is the first real biography of Offa, who was an able warrior, administrator, and organizer. To write it, Peers not only sifted through the literature to collect what is known about Offa, but filled in gaps by comparison with contemporary Anglo-Saxon society. In fact, about half the book passes before Offa takes the stage. This allows Perry to discuss the complex religious, political, diplomatic, and military environment in which Offa rose to power and functioned. "Offa and the Mercian Wars" is an excellent look at life in Anglo-Saxon times, and at an overlooked but very important ruler.'For the full review, see StrategyPage.Com

Didn't mention much about Offa till a hundred pages in and then skimmed over the main subject of the book. Does tell some history of the Mercian kingdom but not very much about Offa. Very disappointing. Had it been simply titled "The Mercian Wars" it would have been palatable.

"Offa and the Mercian wars" is one of the better volumes on the Pen and Sword collection. The book is well structured, with maps and a genealogical table listing the Mercian Kings. The introduction and the three first chapters, which lay the scene and provide the context, are impressive.The introduction presents the main sources for the period, the chronicles and a few charters, but also the archaeological findings. This presentation is short, to the point, but nevertheless quite comprehensive with the main points being made without any of the endless discussions on the reliability of the respective sources (or lack of it) that I had feared and which can be somewhat tedious for a general reader.The other three contextual chapters deal, respectively, with the geography and the land, presenting what were the strategic issues that the Kings of Mercia had to deal with, the coming of the Angles and the Kingdoms and armies that ruled over the central part of what is now England. The author embraces the current and modern thesis that the "real" Angles - that is does that had come from overseas and their descendants - were probably a minority among the total population (some 10-15%), although they constituted the upper class. This thesis, which has become common among authors and historians working on the Dark Ages across what made up the old Provinces of the Western Roman Empire, is more likely than what we used to be taught at school about the huge hordes of Barbarians that sweep over the borders as tidal waves.The fourth chapter examines the reigns of the first Kings of Mercia, the ones who came to progressively dominate a couple of dozen of other kingdoms and, at least to some extent, integrate them into the kingdom. Here again, the author presents a rather good summary of the extant of current research, showing for instance that the population of the eastern part of Mercia was Breton, with perhaps a sprinkling of Angles.He then examines the reign of Penda, the first of the most well-known of the Mercian Kings (chapter 4) and then moves to examine his successors, and Offa in particular. This is where I was a bit disappointed: these two chapters read mostly as a collection of names of places, people, battles and dates, though this is not the fault of the author but rather reflects the paucity of the written sources. This is where the period might still deserve his traditional name of "Dark Ages". Here again, however, archaeology can help, with chapter 4 being devoted to the two major finds of Sutton Hoo and of the Staffordshire hoard. There is more, however, on Offa, as the next chapter presents "The Warrior in the Age of the Mercian Kings" and the one after that focuses on the main features of Offa's long reign (AD 757-796) and Kingdom.The last two chapters focus on the decline of Mercia (and the rise of Wessex) after the death of Offa, but also on the coming of Vikings and the wars against them. This includes the reigns of Alfred and his predecessors and successors, with a special piece on the Lady of Mercia (Alfred's daughter who ruled Mercia rather effectively). This is where I somewhat felt that the book lost a bit of the focus on Mercia, as the author summarizes the Viking wars. He also assumes that the Vikings' initial lack of interest for Mercia would have been because of its relative strength, which I did not find entirely convincing.Interestingly, for those who are fans of Cornwell's series on Uthred, you will meet the historical Aethelred (who seems to have been a good deal better than Cornwell has made him to be) and his wife Aethelflaed (the Lady of Mercia).This was a very interesting summary on a period on which I previously knew not very much and it is worth a solid four stars.

...and I've read a few. If you're looking for a book with references to specific battles and their sites, this is for you. If you're looking for history of England's overlooked kings, this is for you. Places to visit with remnants of Anglo-Saxon history? For you. Truly has everything.

Very interesting and well written. I hadn't realised that so much was known about the history of the dark ages. It deals with a much wider history than just Offa and is more of a history of Mercia itself - none the less interesting for that.

This isn’t the easiest read you will pickup but the level of expertise applied to the subject is very impressive. If you are really interested in the history of England through the Dark Ages this is a must for your library

For such a short book I found this so full of filler that I got bored and struggled to finish it.I understand there aren't hugely detailed contemporary sources for information in this period but it felt like the author was given an A4 page of information about Offa and told to turn it into a 180 page book.There was more of a biography of Penda - which I found interesting - than there was of Offa. Much of the biography of Offa was mingled in with chapters about general information such as Saxon battle tactics, weapons, and even a sub-chapter on Sutton Hoo, which is on East Anglia, not Mercia.I've given it 3 stars because it is well written and I don't like being needlessly harsh - I think if the book had a different title, i.e.: A Brief Military and Social History of Mercia, it'd be less misleading.