MERCIA: THE RISE AND FALL OF A KINGDOM

Throughout the eighth century, Mercia dominated the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, controlling at its zenith almost all of central and southern England. Its personages include Penda, the last great pagan king, under whose aggressive leadership Mercia emerged from obscurity; Offa, whose eponymous dyke on the Welsh border stands to this day; and Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great and, uniquely in Anglo-Saxon history, ruler of Mercia following her husband's death. This is the first book to tell the entire story of the great kingdom of the Midlands.