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The First Kingdom

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The First Kingdom

By: Max Adams
Narrated by: Kris Dyer
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The bestselling author of The King in the North turns his attention to the obscure era of British history known as 'the age of Arthur'.

Somewhere in the dim void between the departure from Britain of the Roman legions at the start of the fifth century and the days of the venerable Bede, the kingdoms of Early Medieval Britain were formed. But by whom? And out of what?

Max Adams scrutinizes the narrative handed down to us by later historians and chronicles, stripping away the most lurid nonsense about Arthur and synthesizing the research of the last forty years to tease out strands of reality from myth. His central theme evolves from an apparently simple question: how, after the end of the Roman state, were people taxed? Rejecting ethnic and nationalist explanations for the emergence of the Early Medieval kingdoms, Adams shows how careful use of a wide range of perspectives from anthropology to geography can deliver a picture of the emergence of distinct polities in the sixth century that survive long enough to be embedded in the medieval landscape, recorded in the lines of river, road and watershed and in place names. Ancient Archaeology Europe Great Britain Middle Ages Royalty Imperialism
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Always love Max Adams books. As a professional archaeologist, his books are still a surprising and educational synthesis for me. I would recommend reading any of his books, especially this one, however this is the first I have got as an audiobook and this narrator is awful. I was under the impression that narrators were voice artists, but this person can't act, can't add the right emphasis and speaks with a flat nasal tone throughout. I'm not sure what the word is for the opposite of gravitas, but this is it.

Great book, terrible narration

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I wanted to get into this book more than I did. Perhaps that was because it is looking at the whole of the uk and Ireland which during that period were separated into many different countries and lordships which changed often. This the narrative has to jump from one place and people group to another.

This goes into interesting details, but moves through centuries quickly enough to cover a lot of history in one tome.

A fascinating period of history

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Max Adams strikes a perfect balance between the academic and the accessible in The First Kingdom: Britain in the Age of Arthur. I am perennially peeved when books about Britain turn out to be clearly – in your face - books about England, written by chaps for chaps. The First Kingdom is not like that. Max Adams uses the evidence that is, not what he would have liked the evidence to be, and so, what we get is clarity and reality - brilliantly written. Just don’t expect an historical Arthur. He is in the title because every post-Roman-Britain history book has to have Arthur in the title. This detracts from a reading of the title but not from a reading of the book. The narration by Kris Dyer is precise and engaging. The First Kingdom - highly recommended. Adam Ardrey
PS One thing only – Constantine, “tyrant whelp of the filthy lioness,” was from Damnonia, Scotland, not from Dumnonia, England. The Latin says Damnonia. This was “translated”, or, rather, 'changed' to Dumnonia in the English. Arthurian Sources. vol. 7, Ed. John Morris. This sets Arthur, not in Scotland, in England. No big deal - Even Homer...

Academic and accessible... oh, and enjoyable.

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Excellent book but very robotic reader unfortunately. At times this made this interesting book difficult to listen to.

Excellent book but not an easy listen

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somewhat spoilt by the narrators seeming to get tongue-tied over names and place names. annoying

very interesting.

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