This is perhaps a somewhat eclectic collection of documents from the Treaty between Alfred the Great and Guthrun the Dane to the sergeant Pepper Album cover via the Laws of Cricket and the Great Reform Act. I often wanted more detail and more authentic quotes from the documents (every document is reported upon but not always quoted and hardly ever quoted in full). I was a little disappointed by the selection which is heavily weighted towards the modern era. Nevertheless, it was so interesting and compelling that I changed my annual long distance walk from the second half of the Thames walk to the River Lea so that I could walk along the boundary between Wessex and the Dane Law as agreed by Alfred and Guthrun above in about 885.
Some wonderful moments of history are represented by this magnificent book. I don't always agree with the selection but I have learned a great deal from it.
September 2011; 422 pages.
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