King Arthur’s Wars describes one of the biggest archaeological finds of our times, yet there is nothing new to see. There are secrets hidden in plain sight. We speak English today, because the Anglo-Saxons took over most of post-Roman Britain. How did that happen? There is little evidence: not much little archaeology, and even less written history. There is, however, a huge amount of speculation. King Arthur’s Wars brings an entirely new approach to the subject. The answers are out there, in the countryside, waiting to be found.

Months of field work and map study allow us to understand, for the first time, how the Anglo-Saxons conquered England; county by county and decade by decade.

King Arthur’s Wars exposes what the landscape and the place names tell us. As a result, we can now know far more about this ‘Dark Age’. What is so special about Essex? Why is Buckinghamshire an odd shape? Why is the legend of King Arthur so special to us? Why don’t Cumbrian farmers use English numbers, when they count sheep? Why don’t we know where Camelot was? Why did the Romano-British stop eating oysters?

King Arthur’s Wars tells that story.

“ … The book really shines when it comes down to the quite extraordinary work Jim Storr has done to identify the possible sites of battles during the Anglo-Saxon period, looking at each of the major kingdoms: Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria, and the South West. Of the King Arthur books reviewed here, King Arthur’s Wars is refreshingly different and therefore it is unfair to compare it to the books that seek to identify Arthur. This said, if you fancy a good, solid Arthurian read, this is the book to buy. Very highly recommended.”

“…the most admirable book to come my way this year…I heartily recommend it."

“This book is certainly required reading for anyone interested in “the Matter of Britain”. It perhaps goes the furthest yet in showing us “what really happened”, the real historical process by which English rule, culture and language replaced Celtic in the Dark Age, and Roman Britain was reduced to Wales. Storr combines much previous scholarship in history, archaeology, and place names with his soldier’s eye for the ground itself to create a cogent, logical, deeply interesting thesis. His writing is crisp, clear, and vivid… Highly recommended.”