Offa and the Mercian Wars: The Rise and Fall of the First Great English Kingdom

by Chris Peers

In England in the eighth century, Offa ruled Mercia, one of the strongest Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. For over 30 years he was the dominant warlord in the territory south of the Humber and the driving force behind the expansion of Mercias power. Yet the true story of Offas long reign and of the rise and fall of Mercia are little known although this is one of the most intriguing episodes in this little-recorded phase of Englands past.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, Medieval, Medieval History, Anglo Saxon

198 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 2012

Reviews

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is a bit misleading as the emphasis is decidedly not on Offa, but Mercia, but that aside, this was a very informative survey of the history of that kingdom from formation to integration into greater England. I found the chapter on the Anglo-Saxon "migration" particularly interesting, as the book laid out theories about that which I'd never encountered before. I also found my understanding of Anglo-Saxon England greatly improved after reading this book.

[Emilija · Rating 2 out of 5]

This gives a general overview of the Mercian dynasty, focussing mostly on Penda. That is my major complaint about this book; it's advertised as a book about Offa, which is why I read it, but Offa actually only features as the subject for one chapter. The book itself is very brief, which isn't a shock considering the general lack of knowledge about this time period.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Offa and the Mercian Wars' provides a consist, no nonsense, overview of history of 'central' England, in those times known as Mercia, between fifth and ninth century AC. In part a traditional chronological walkthrough through this turbulent period in Britain's history (Romans leaving, Saxons invading, fraction into a multitude of petty, extremly warlike kingdoms and finally arrival of the Vikings), partially a discussion about variety of social, political and military aspects, the book is a really enjoyable read for those interested in this topic. My only real issue with this book is that, yet again, the concept of a 'map' seems to be completely unfamiliar to the author and this book really cries out for at least one or two of these.

[Koit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is in general an alright book, but entirely misleading in its title or content. Offa features in the introduction and then skips back in for about ten-twenty pages in the middle of the book, after which the author goes back to describing a general history of Mercia -- more on this below. The book also comes across not knowing where it wants to lie on the scholarly spectrum with plenty of references to academic work and minimal evaluation of these. 

Given that the author decries the present-day use of the name of Offa to sell products and advertise places, it is quite sad that he has done the same with this book. It is, more accurately, a history of Mercia, with more emphasis on Penda and Aethelflaed than Offa. This, overall, leads me to conclude that either the author thought Mercia as a name would not sell or that he liked the idea of writing a book on Offa but then gave up because in reality the 7th and 9th centuries are a lot more interesting. I really don't know, but I don't feel like I can condone such purposeful misinformation.

The rest of the text was quite alright though in a lot of places, as mentioned above, the author was referencing sources of this kind or that kind. My feeling is that if he already brought these in, he should have tried some critical evaluation of these. This is especially valid as in a lot of places this was akin to "People used to think that X was the case, but in reality it is Y (my source)." Thanks for nothing...

All the above considered, this is still an alright history of Mercia, but I would recommend a book which isn't afraid to say it will be that.

This review was originally posted on my blog.

[Roger Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this 2nd hand to aid my background knowledge for a play I am trying to write about Offa's wife, Cynethryth.

Peers strikes an excellent balance between scholarship and communication with great readability; he covers far more than Offa, detailing the Saxon country pretty much from the Roman departure until Alfred's unification of England. It is through the filter of Mercia which he contends should get a lot of credit for "England", due to the extraordinary energy of Offa and his forebears. Offa's descendants turned out not to be up to the job when the nasty Danes appeared - Alfred got the credit.

You learn a lot - how they lived, who they were, how they fought. Of course, it may be littered with inaccuracies as that period is not well known. He includes as many points of archaeological verification as he can, so I'll buy it.

Cynethryth doesn't get enough mentions though.

[Vinter Skugga]

Fairly decent, though the title is a bit misleading. Offa, himself, is discussed no more than some of the other figures of the time. A little disappointing.

[Rupert Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and a good read. Clearly aimed at a general audience, but still scholarly enough to satisfy all but the most pedantic students. I do not actually agree with everything the author says - after all most of the earlier decades of Mercian history are so poorly recorded that much is a matter of opinion rather than a matter of fact. My only real gripe is about the title. This is not a book about "Offa and the Mercian Wars", it is really a book about "The Mercian Wars and Offa", but I guess Offa is by far the best known Mercian and they need to sell books.

If you have even a passing interest in Anglo-Saxon history, read this book. It is well worth it.

[Andre Hermanto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good:
* Provides varying conjectures and possibilities.

Bad:
* Very dry.
* Too many unknowns and uncertainties, which are not exactly the fault of the author. However they interfere with the narrative.

[James Calbraith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent, but a bit short. Can't blame the author for the lack of source material, I suppose...