Good Dark Ages Intro Book ?

[jetengine]

Love me some Dark Ages, Vikings, Saxons, Normans etc. Visually awesome with a very gritty feel to it all. However beyond my standard education I'm not too knowledgable about the Dark Ages. Any suggestions on books that cover the Viking Era ? Ie : Ravenfeast/Saga etc etc.

I'd prefer something not too dry if possible.

[Atheling]

Battles of the Dark Ages: British Battlefields AD 410 to 1065, Peter Marren is a very good primer.


From Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battles-Dark-Ages-Peter-Marren/dp/1844158845/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=battles+of+the+dark+ages&qid=1628610103&sr=8-1

[Flinty]

Im assuming your looking for a UK based study - getting on, but you cant go wrong with
Michael Wood - In Search of the Dark Ages - ISBN 13: 9780563522768.
Covers the period from the 440's to 1060's with some lovely moody photographs in the hardback; definately not dry and he does suggest further reading (based on the publication being in the mid 1980's).

Other, slightly less coffee table but not academic, suggestions are:
Chris Wickham - The Inheritance of Rome - ISBN 13: 9780140290141
Robin Fleming - Britain After Rome, The Fall and Rise, 400 - 1070 - ISBN 13: 9780713990645

Atheling's suggestion is spot on for Wargaming background.
Feeble Excuse No. 4379: 'Bit sketchy on the later end of the period as Im not at home in front the bookcase'

These are all available from Abe Books from a couple of quid up, and browsing should offer up more suggestions
https://www.abebooks.co.uk

Forgot - academic primer on the original source - The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles by Peter Blair


 

[Atheling]

There's also, As Told in the Great Hall: The Wargamer's Guide to Dark Age Britain, Martin Hackett. Not the best of books as the diagrams of the battle set ups are a little, erm.... unprofessional, but they just about do the job.


Interestingly, a rather large wargames company seems to have taken Martin Hackett's scenarios and presented them as their own- allegedly of course!

Hackett's book comes with his own set of rules which I find a bit overly complicated, though that could just be down to writing style or even personal taste.

Available on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/As-Told-Great-Hall-Wargamers/dp/1445603802

The important thing to recognise about the "Dark Ages" is that the more we learn, the more elucidated things become vis a vis less obfuscation.

EDIT: While I'm here, you could do much worse then try to get hold of a second hand copy of Warhammer historical's Shieldwall, El Cid and Age of Arthur supplements. OOP now bit there arte still copies floating around on the internet. They all give invaluable insight into the theatres of war they each cover.

[SJWi]

Hi, you might want to check out "Viking vs Anglo-Saxon Warrior" in Osprey's Combat series. I don't have it but see it is written by a curator at the British Museum and illustrated by Peter Dennis so should be pretty good.  Osprey may also have other volumes of interest. They are also running a 30% discount scheme during August.

I see someone else recommended the long out-of-print Warhammer Ancient books. I am actually selling mine and still have the "Shieldwall" volume available if you are interested.

Regards.

[Blackwolf]

Any of Guy Halsall’s books are good,very readable 

[Atheling]

I see someone else recommended the long out-of-print Warhammer Ancient books. I am actually selling mine and still have the "Shieldwall" volume available if you are interested.

If you are "serious" about wargaming the Early Medieval/"Dark Ages" period then I would snap Shieldwall up as the background material is most informative. It will also give you a great overview of who was who and what was what in the post Sun Roman era. An oldie, a classic and an absolute "must have" IMHO. I still have my copy from 20 years ago!

[SteveBurt]

“Armies of the Dark Ages” by Ian Heath, published by Wargames research Group. Now available as print on demand (as well as used). You won’t find a better summary.

[Atheling]

“Armies of the Dark Ages” by Ian Heath, published by Wargames research Group. Now available as print on demand (as well as used). You won’t find a better summary.

Not a bad book but a little out of date nowadays. Still, Steve is right, it is chock full of very useful info.

[Maniac]

Depending on your desired subject matter, I can recommend:

Normans:
The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris
The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily by Brown

Vikings:
CNUT England's Viking King - Lawson
The Sea Wolves by Lars Brownworth
Heimskringla by Snori Sturlson(Saga of the Swedish/Norwegian kings)
Icelandic Sagas (both of the sagas are chock full of raids, battles, murder, revenge, escape.  Some may argue the veracity of the stories, but the people who told them/read them certainly didn't see anything implausible in them...)

Late Roman:
Edge of Empire by Bosman (well, covers the entire period of the Roman Limes up through the end, but does touch on where 'serfdom' comes from and the beginning of the Dark Ages)
Aetius: Attila's Nemesis (deals with the 'end' of the Roman Empire and start of the Dark Ages)

German:
A History of Germany in the Middle Ages by Henderson (really a history of the Germanic peoples, it covers Italy, France, Austria, and Germany.  A little dry, but awesome flavor for the fratricidal wars post Theodric.  Covers Ostrogothic invasions of Italy to Charlemagne and more up to the Middle Ages)

General:
The Year 1000 by Lacey (not a 'war' book, but a great bit of study on the year 1000)
The Dark Ages 476 - 918 by Oman (drier than the above, but packed full of good stuff)

Fiction:
Beowulf (2nd favorite book, so I'm a little biased)