In the land of giants : a journey through the Dark Ages / Max Adams.

Title:

Land of giants : a journey through the Dark Ages

Author:

Adams, Max, 1961-

ISBN:

9781681772189

1681772183

Edition:

First Pegasus Books hardcover edition.

Publication Info:

New York :

Description:

xi, 444 pages, 16 pages of unnumbered plates : color illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

General Note:

Map on endpapers.

Personal Subject:

Adams, Max, 1961--Travel-Great Britain.

Holds: Copies (not including on-order items):

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Shelf Location	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Cheyenne Library	Book	942.01 ADAM	Nonfiction	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
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A cultural exploration of the Dark Age landscapes of Britain that poses a significant question: Is the modern world simply the realization of our ancient past?

The five centuries between the end of Roman Britain and the death of Alfred the Great have left few voices save a handful of chroniclers, but Britain's "Dark Ages" can still be explored through their material remnants: architecture, books, metalwork, and, above all, landscapes.

Max Adams explores Britain's lost early medieval past by walking its paths and exploring its lasting imprint on valley, hill, and field. From York to Whitby, from London to Sutton Hoo, from Edinburgh to Anglesey, and from Hadrian's Wall to Loch Tay, each of his ten walking narratives form free-standing chapters as well as parts of a wider portrait of a Britain of fort and fyrd, crypt and crannog, church and causeway, holy well and memorial stone.

Part travelogue, part expert reconstruction, In the Land of Giant s offers a beautifully written insight into the lives of peasants, drengs, ceorls, thanes, monks, knights, and kings during an enigmatic but richly exciting period of Britain's history.

Author Notes

Max Adams is the author of Admiral Collingwood , The Prometheans , and The King in the North , all published in Great Britain. This is his first book to be published in the United States. A university professor, Max lives in the northeast of England.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Rambling about his native Great Britain, writer and archaeologist Adams (The Wisdom of Trees) reveals the subtle ways in which the past permeates the present, despite the presence of modern motorways and housing developments. "I went to Wessex to walk with the heroes of the Dark Ages," he writes, "not to praise them, but to understand how a mythic past has infiltrated the fabric of the landscape." Adams peers into the countryside and sees what was once there, imagining the inhabitants of centuries past. Archeology can say what happened, but "rarely can it say why." Part history lesson, part travelogue, and part philosophical musing, this book reminds readers of a world in which time and distance were measured differently. This is not an idyllic journey. There are blisters, mud, cold, more mud, and encounters with a "megalithic tentacle roundabout" and a business park that is "a creepy landscape, overdesigned, inorganic, and inhuman." This is a book to savor; as readers travel with Adams, noting meetings with strangers, discoveries of ancient shrines and henges, and enjoying intimate contact with the surroundings, they will long to get some hiking boots and a staff to follow these forgotten trails. Photos. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Though adept in the skills of a library scholar, Adams here revives Britain's early medieval past through direct and deeply personal encounters with the lands once traveled by the kings, knights, ladies, monks, peasants, pirates, and slaves who peopled the world that was Britain when the Romans left the island in the fifth century. Adams invites his readers to share that world as he travels mostly on foot along the great stone barrier (Hadrian's Wall) that once marked the limits of the Roman Empire, visiting the burial mounds of Sutton Hoo, traversing the Hexhamshire battlefield where Prince Oswald crushed Cadwallon of Gwynedd, and pausing along the Wantsum Channel, where Christian missionaries once waited for King Æthelberht to grant them admission into his realm. Beyond the material relics that Adams scrutinizes with the eyes of a trained archaeologist, readers will relish the way these relics spark musings on Arthurian legends and prompt sustained reflections on the political transformation of the Britain of sixth-century tribal chieftains into the impressive ninth-century monarchy of King Alfred. This richly detailed journey reminds readers that the medieval Dark Ages actually shone with creative human energies rivaling those of our own era. A distant age evoked with the thrill of fresh rediscovery.--Christensen, Bryce Copyright 2016 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Part travelog, part history, and part philosophical musing, this work by Adams (The King in the North) explores Britain's Dark Ages (400-900s CE) through various walk-abouts across the island's landscape. These are not ramblings but planned routes that try to encompass various ruins, historical sites, and even modern cities along the way. Each route is the individual theme of each chapter and also prescribes the past that Adams, a noted archaeologist, touches on. History is not the only aim of the book, though. Adams fills each chapter with asides about modern Britain to show how past and future collide and intersect in ways as old as they are new. For those who aren't familiar with British geography or early British history, having a map or historical atlas nearby is recommended as a quick reference to help add context to the small maps included.- -VERDICT A fascinating read for medievalists and history buffs. Readers will savor the almost whimsical happenstance; instead of a strict chronology, the volume is meant to be read however one wants, in chapter order or jumping among sections.-Laura Hiatt, Fort Collins, CO © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author's note	p. xi
Prologue It is written	p. 1
Chapter 1 The kingdom of Dál Riata Rothesay to Kilmartin	p. 20
Interlude Gilsland to Haltwhistle	p. 55
Chapter 2 Marches Telford to Wrexham	p. 62
Interlude Haltwhistle to Hotbank	p. 91
Chapter 3 Looking for giants London to Sutton Hoo	p. 98
Interlude Once Brewed to Warden Hill	p. 136
Chapter 4 Eda Frandsen Falmouth to Mallaig	p. 144
Interlude A Corbridge circular	p. 179
Chapter 5 Heroes Wareham to Tatton	p. 190
Interlude Walking on the Wall on the spot	p. 231
Chapter 6 Time among the Britons Anglesey to Bardsey Island	p. 236
Interlude The Tyne: Hexham to Ovingham	p. 281
Chapter 7 Sense of place Donegal	p. 288
Interlude Ovingham to Newcastle	p. 327
Chapter 8 Speed Meigle to Canterbury	p. 336
Interlude Newcastle to Jarrow	p. 374
Chapter 9 Midwinter York to Whitby	p. 384
Postscript Who are the British?	p. 423
Appendix 1 Journey distances	p. 427
Appendix 2 Timeline	p. 429
Notes	p. 433
Recommended reading	p. 443
Acknowledgements	p. 445

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