Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The King in the North
The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria | Max Adams
4 posts | 4 read | 4 to read
A stunning recreation of the life and times of Oswald of Northumbria: Christian warlord, founder of Lindisfarne monastery, and the first great English monarch Oswald Whiteblade lived one of the most influential and colorful lives in early English history. Before his death in battle against the pagans of Mercia cut short his reign as king of Northumbria (634-42), he remodeled his northeastern English homeland as a Christian kingdom, founded the monastery of Lindisfarne, introduced a culture of learning which influenced all Europe, and became the most powerful ruler in Britain. Max Adams's thrilling account rescues Oswald from Dark Age obscurity to reveal an unjustly forgotten English hero—a king whose return from exile to reclaim his birthright was the inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien's Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. But this is more than just a biography of the first great English monarch; it is a stunningly researched, wide-ranging, beautifully written, and revelatory portrait of early medieval England in all its aspects.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
Oblomov26
post image
Pickpick

A fascinating book covering a little remembered King in the North of England; readable but dense. Oswald was a Saxon King in the 7th century in the region we know as Northumbria and the simple truth is we do not know that much about him. Yet the author does a remarkable job of recreating a possible life for him based on the lives of his contemporaries asking questions such as what was expected of a exiled warrior and later King, what did it mean

Oblomov26 to be Christian in a pagan society, why did he achieve sainthood in death. 4y
46 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
shanaqui
Pickpick

Felt ill tonight, so I was up late. At least I finished a book!

This is really readable, and though I don't know enough to tell whether the sources are reliable, the footnotes and references are extensive (usually a good sign). The author is clear when he's guessing and putting forward his pet ideas.

blurb
shanaqui

It surprised me how readable this was so far after my last extremely dry history reads! It's similar in depth of information, and yet the style works so much better.

review
Misssamnew
post image
Pickpick

Been working steadily through this since around May-ish. Took advantage of a sleepy bank holiday to finally get it finished.