The Late Anglo-Saxon Army

The period from the accession of Aethelred II 'the Unready' in 978 to the death of Harold II Godwinson in battle at Hastings in 1066 is viewed as one of defeat and failure. Successive invasions and conquests, by the Vikings in 1013-6 and more lastingly by the Normans in 1066, blackened the reputation of the late Anglo-Saxon army, leaving it seemingly mired in backwardness and inadequacy.

This same army, however, won the most complete victory in Anglo-Saxon history at Stamford Bridge, campaigned successfully throughout the British Isles and under Cnut carved out a great Scandinavian empire. Taking a close and authoritative look at its history, battlefield organisation, tactics and equipment, the author places the army of the late Anglo-Saxon state firmly and correctly within its context - namely as a part of the mainstream of European military culture. The 'face of battle' is also considered. Taking the Battle of Maldon in AD 991 as an example, this work looks at close-order infantry combat and mass killing Anglo-Saxon style, via one of the best-documented events of the late Anglo-Saxon period. Providing the most detailed analysis of the events of battle to date, this book is the first devoted exclusively to the Anglo-Saxon army at war.