Britain Series

Britain BC and Britain AD combines two authoritative, bestselling, and radical works that reimagine the history of Ancient Britain and Ancient Ireland, based on remarkable new archaeological finds.

How did Britain become the nation it is today?

In these two landmark works, acclaimed archaeologist Francis Pryor traces the extraordinary story of Britain from its earliest prehistoric communities to the centuries that followed the end of Roman rule. Blending groundbreaking archaeological discoveries with vivid storytelling, Pryor challenges long-held assumptions and reveals a richer, more complex picture of Britain's past than traditional histories have often allowed.

Britain BC

British history is traditionally regarded as having started with the Roman Conquest. But this is to ignore half a million years of prehistory that still exert a profound influence. Here Francis Pryor examines the great ceremonial landscapes of Ancient Britain and Ireland – Stonehenge, Seahenge, Avebury and the Bend of the Boyne – as well as the discarded artefacts of day-to-day life, to create an astonishing portrait of our ancestors.

This major re-evaluation of pre-Roman Britain, made possible in part by aerial photography and coastal erosion, reveals a much more sophisticated life in Ancient Britain and Ireland than has previously been supposed.

Britain AD

Leading archaeologist and author of the bestselling Britain BC, Francis Pryor retells the story of King Arthur, legendary king of the Britons, tracing it back to its Bronze Age origins.

The legend of King Arthur and Camelot is one of the most enduring in Britain's history, spanning centuries and surviving invasions by Angles, Vikings and Normans. In his latest book Francis Pryor – one of Britain's most celebrated archaeologists and author of the acclaimed 'Britain B.C.' and 'Seahenge' – traces the story of Arthur back to its ancient origins. Putting forth the compelling idea that most of the key elements of the Arthurian legends are deeply rooted in Bronze and Iron Ages (the sword Excalibur, the Lady of the Lake, the Sword in the Stone and so on), Pryor argues that the legends' survival mirrors a flourishing, indigenous culture that endured through the Roman occupation of Britain, and the subsequent invasions of the so-called Dark Ages.

As in Britain B.C., Pryor roots his story in the very landscape, from Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, to South Cadbury Castle in Somerset and Tintagel in Cornwall. He traces the story back to the 5th-century King Arthur and beyond, all the time testing his ideas with archaeological evidence, and showing how the story was manipulated through the ages for various historical and literary purposes, by Geoffrey of Monmouth and Malory, among others.

Delving into history, literary sources – ancient, medieval and romantic – and archaeological research, Francis Pryor creates an original, lively and illuminating account of this most British of legends.

Francis Pryor is an archaeologist, historian and broadcaster, renowned for making Britain's past accessible to a wide audience. A specialist in British prehistory, he has directed major archaeological excavations, appeared on numerous television documentaries, and written a series of bestselling books exploring the history of Britain through archaeology. His work combines rigorous scholarship with an engaging narrative style, bringing thousands of years of history vividly to life.