In Search of Mercia

For 400 years in Anglo-Saxon England, many - if not most - of the inhabitants lived in the kingdom of Mercia. At its greatest extent, it stretched from the Mersey to the Thames, the Severn to the Humber. Mercian kings Penda and Offa were among the most dominant of the age. And yet so little remains.

This short book takes the reader on a tour of twenty locations where key events in Mercia's turbulent history can be recalled, where the essence of life - and death - in those faraway days can be imagined. From quiet woods and river banks to a Welsh hillside, a mysterious crypt, an opera house, a town-centre roundabout and even a Chinese takeaway, the choices are sometimes surprising - but always informative.

A family tree of Mercian leaders and the absorbing narrative hold the whole journey together.