An Age of Tyrants: Britain and the Britons, A.D. 400-600, by Christopher A. Snyder. (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998. Pp. 403.)

Abstract

The title of this book is a misnomer. A more accurate, if less intriguing, title would be An Evaluation of the Historical and Archaeological Sources of Sub-Roman Britain. Snyder does not offer a narrative history of Britain after Rome and prior to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, but instead discusses the methodology of these studies. This work is divided into four sections: the history of Roman Britain, the literary sources of sub-Roman Britain and the language of the sources, the archaeological record of various sites, and a discussion of who the "Britons" were. While this method of presentation covers the overall topic from many angles, it also leads to repetition and a loss of interest on the part of the reader.