The Long War for Britannia

 

The Long War for Britannia is the first complete narrative for one of the most fascinating eras in this island’s history: Britain’s so-called “Dark Ages.” It chronicles the radical transformation of a Roman diocese into a patchwork of warring British and English kingdoms. Just as significant, it provides compelling evidence for why such figures as Arthur, Vortigern and Uther Pendragon loom so large in the British historical imagination.

The book is unique for another reason. It shows that all the early written sources are telling the same story. Apparent discrepancies in dates and names are actually the result of centuries of transmission in each of a dozen feuding kingdoms. One ruler from the past was remembered as a hero in one realm--and a traitor in the next. This, combined with medieval misunderstandings of late antique chronology, created duplications and even triplications of the same events and actors.

And once we understand this, we find a single, consistent story for post-Roman Britain.