The Battle of Brunanburh - (Liverpool Historical Casebooks) by Michael Livingston (Paperback)

About the Book

This casebook fills a major gap in our cultural knowledge of the Middle Ages. It gathers together for the first time the key historical and literary primary sources for the study of the Battle of Brunanburh (AD 937); a key moment in the history of the British Isles. In addition, the volume includes a substantial introduction from Michael Livingston and ten wide-ranging essays that provide cultural contexts.

Book Synopsis

This casebook fills a major gap in our cultural knowledge of the Middle Ages. It gathers together for the first time the key historical and literary primary sources for the study of the Battle of Brunanburh (AD 937); a key moment in the history of the British Isles. Produced by an international team of experts, the volume offers the sources in their language of origin - Old English, Old Norse, Welsh, Irish, Latin, Anglo-Norman, Middle English, Early Modern English - with facing-page translations and explanatory notes. Many of the sources are translated here for the first time. In addition, the volume includes a substantial introduction from Michael Livingston and ten wide-ranging essays that provide cultural contexts and lay to rest many of the most controversial questions about the conflict - including the key matter of where the battle likely took place, identified here . The essays show the lasting significance of this nation-defining battle - both in terms of history and in terms of its impact across more than a thousand years of literature.

Review Quotes

'A massive and admirable volume on the Battle of Brunanburh. It is designed as a casebook - a teaching tool and a scholarly examination in one. It is as definitive as it is possible to be about the battle and succeeds admirable as a case study of how to examine an obscure medieval battle.'
Stephen Morillo, Journal of Military History

'In short, the book is extremely useful ... valuable for beginning undergraduate students and established scholars alike, and the editor deserves recognition for bringing to fruition an ambitious and largely successful project.'
Journal of English and Germanic Philology

'The concept of bringing together all available written materials relating to a single significant event in early English history, together with commentary by a range of experts, is extremely worthwhile.'
Donald Scragg, University of Manchester

'This will be the definitive text.'
Fortean Times

About the Author

Michael Livingston is Assistant Professor of English at The Military College of South Carolina, author of scholarly editions of 'Siege of Jerusalem' (2004), 'In Praise of Peace' (2005), and 'The Middle English Metrical Paraphrase' of the Old Testament (2011), and co-editor of 'Owain Glyndwr: A Casebook' (LUP, 2013).