Tony Sullivan

The Early Anglo-Saxon Kings takes a new look at the adventus Saxonum, the arrival of the Saxons, recorded in the earliest literary sources. As the Roman provincial structure fragmented, new cultural identities emerged. In fifth century Britain whatever sense of pax Romana remained gave way to a war-band culture which dominated both Brythonic and Germanic peoples. Villas left abandoned were replaced by the mead-hall. These halls now rang with the songs and poems of bards and scops. Tales of famous battles such as mons Badonicus and Cattraeth filled the air.Out of the ashes of the former Roman diocese new kingdoms emerged. One major factor was the settlement of significant numbers of Germanic peoples in Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries. The first kings of these peoples are shrouded in legends and myth, such as the leaders of the first group of mercenaries, Hengest and Horsa, as well as Alle of the South Saxons, Cerdic and Cynric and later Ceawlin of Wessex. The book takes the reader from the early-fifth century through to the mid-seventh century and the death of the last great pagan Anglo-Saxon king, Penda of Mercia.An entertaining journey across the landscape of Britain in search of battle-sites and burial-mounds, this book brings to life the world that produced Y Gododdin and Beowulf; a world that saw warlords and kings carve out new kingdoms from the carcass of post-Roman Britain.

Around the mid-fifth century three Saxon keels cut through the waves towards the southern coast of Britain. They were not the first Germanic warriors or migrants to arrive since direct Roman authority had ended in the early fifth century and would not be the last. Yet the arrival of these particular warriors would prove to be a turning point in the history of these islands.The literary sources that survive point to the arrival of these mercenaries and their subsequent revolt as the pivotal event rather any invasion or mass migration. There have been many books on the Anglo-Saxons. Those that touch on the first arrivals deal only briefly with the fifth and sixth centuries due to the lack of historical records.This book is unique in focusing on the events mentioned by the sources such as Gildas and Bede. It will show that the former Roman Diocese limped on outside direct Roman rule for a generation, beset by constant raiding from Picts and Scots in the north and Saxons and other Germanic pirates in the south.It will look at Roman practices of hiring and settling mercenaries and Germanic groups across the empire. A comparison with these will provide important clues, as well as understanding how and why the diocese and provincial structure fell apart, allowing petty kingdoms to emerge in the sixth century.The subsequent centuries have been termed the Anglo-Saxon period. This book goes back to the very beginning, the adventus Saxonum: The Coming of the Saxons.

In the early hours of 14th June 2017, a fire began in a kitchen on the fourth floor of a twenty-four-storey block of flats in West London. A fire that should have been contained within the original compartment ripped up the outside of the building within minutes. Procedures and systems that had worked for decades failed resulting in the loss of seventy-two lives.Yet this was not the first time a breakdown of compartmentation had caused a loss of life. Just eight years earlier, a fire at Lakanal House in South London had claimed the lives of six people. How then could this happen again? Nor was it just one failure as panels, inadequate fire-stopping, construction of the windows, failure of fire doors and the smoke ventilation system all contributed to the rapid fire spread.This book gives a firefighter’s perspective of the deregulation that caused the tragedy and describes what firefighters were confronted with that June night in 2017. It places that deregulation chronologically alongside a career that spanned three decades including nine years in the training department of the London Fire Brigade.It proposes the causes are far deeper and wider than many think. A systemic deterioration of standards in testing of materials, building control, maintenance, inspections, fire safety and enforcement.