Ceawlin: The Man who Created England - Hardcover

In this book Rupert Matthews puts forward his ground breaking new theories on the collapse of the post-Roman order in Britain and the formation of England. Drawing on newly analysed written sources and the growing mass of archaeological finds he presents a very different picture of post-Roman Britain than that usually put forward. In place of the anarchy and mayhem, Rupert suggests that Romanised governmental structures managed to survive the economic collapse of the 5th century and the population collapse of the early sixth century to emerge in new and barbarianised form in the later sixth century. The key figure in this story was Ceawlin, King of Wessex in the 570s. It was he who finally smashed the old order with his ambitious grab for power and who thus opened the way to the creation of the England that we know today with its English culture, English language and English character.

Rupert has written over 170 books, appearing on television and radio as a presenter and consultant. These have mostly been on history or military subjects, though in recent years he has been writing about ghosts, cryptozoology, UFOs and other paranormal subjects. Rupert twitters under the name of "rupertmatthews" and has a page on FaceBook as "Rupert Matthews". Rupert blogs about history at http: //thehistorymanatlarge.blogspot.com/ and about ghosts, UFOs, unknown animals and other aspects of the unexplained at http: //ghosthunteratlarge.blogspot.com/ Rupert was born in Dorking, England, in 1961 and was educated at his local Church of England junior school, then at his local grammar school. He later took up a career in publishing as an editor and writer. He went freelance in 1988 and since then has worked mostly as a writer, columnist and tv presenter. Rupert has established himself as a leading speaker to lunches and dinners, speaking on subjects as varied as RAF Bomber Command at War; Your Local Ghosts; How Medieval women led society; How the publishing industry works; The Arrowstorm; The Yeti is real!; The real King Arthur; and the biography of Father Christmas. He now lives in Surrey, England, with his wife and daughter.