Description

An authoritative biography of Offa of Mercia, revealing his importance as the king who stood at the turning point of Anglo-Saxon history

Offa ruled the Mercian heartland of the west midlands from 757 to 796. But while Alfred the Great and his dynasty are seen as agents of a new beginning that resulted in a unified Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Offa is best remembered as the builder of a great dyke and as a symbol of an older, divided order.

In this major new biography, Rory Naismith challenges this view. Naismith reveals how Offa cemented Mercia’s position as the dominant force in the southern part of Britain, strengthened the internal cohesion of his domains, and laid the basis for a new model of kingship. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including charters, coins, and chronicles, Naismith reveals Offa as a king who was ambitious and successful, and who carefully constructed his image and that of the royal family. Far from just one in a sequence of overlords, Offa had a lasting impact on how kingship was practised and conceived across England.

Publisher Review

“In this brilliant piece of historical detective work, Rory Naismith restores Offa to his proper dimensions, revealing a hardnosed but pious ruler who changed the course of English (and indeed British) history. Authoritative and eminently readable, it will long be the standard work on the subject!”-Levi Roach, author of Empires of the Normans

“Offa was the most powerful English king before the mid-tenth century, but he resists analysis. . . . Naismith shows a remarkable skill in bringing all the threads together to produce a compelling picture of how an eighth-century king in England could make himself central, to both English and European politics.”-Chris Wickham, author of Medieval Europe

“A dependable biography of this most elusive of English rulers. It captures what would otherwise be only fleeting impressions of a fascinating individual.”-Christine Rauer, author of Beowulf and the Dragon