Divided Isles

A wide-ranging and engaging history of medieval Britain and Ireland, from the Norman Conquest to the ReformationBefore the turn of the first millennium, the British and Irish Isles were made up of four divided and very different nations. Neither Wales nor Ireland were cohesive political units, while Scottish and English royal authority was extending throughout each country but in a slow piecemeal way. But, after the year 1000 efforts were made, for the first time since the Roman occupation, to bring these diverse communities together.David Green explores the intertwined histories of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland during a period of extraordinary change. Tracing events across the five hundred years after the millennium, he considers foundational questions about the relationships between peoples and governments in the Isles. Green shows, crucially, how identities evolved and examines the changing nature of the connections which bound the many nations and regions together. In this fascinating account, Green reveals the Isles during this period to be a single, although not a homogenous, unit—one shaped through the links, commonalities and distinctions within the archipelago.