It began with In Search of Offa, recorded in 1978 by BBC Manchester, and shown on 2 January 1979. The television series consisted of a series of separate programmes, hence the collective title is often written as In Search of.

It is also the title of a book written by Wood to support the series, which was published in 1981. In his two additional chapters, Wood reconstructs the life of Aethelflaed, daughter of King Alfred and the only Anglo-Saxon woman to rule a kingdom in her own right, and Penda, whose reign as the last pagan king of Mercia bridges the heroic age of Beowulf and the emerging Christian era.In Search of the Dark Ages was a television series, written and presented by Michael Wood, and first shown in 1979. Advances in historical scholarship underpin fresh insights into the lives of medieval queens, including Offa’s consort Cynethryth, Eadgyth of Germany and Emma of Normandy. His much-expanded text takes account of recent archaeological evidence – the new excavations at Sutton Hoo, the mass Viking tomb at Repton, and the glittering treasure hoards in Staffordshire, Harrogate and Watlington – and the rediscovery of lost manuscripts. Michael Wood writes in his introduction that ‘this book has long called for a substantial rewrite’, and he fulfils that ambition in this exclusive Folio edition with two new chapters. Since 1981, when In Search of the Dark Ages was first published, our understanding of the era has been transformed. The book features 24 pages of colour illustrations, including jewellery, coinage and manuscript illuminations, as well as integrated black-and-white photographs and two hand-drawn maps. This Folio edition has been extensively revised and expanded, with a new introduction and extra chapters on Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians (a crucial but largely forgotten figure of the Viking Age) and the pagan king Penda. Between Boudica and William the Conqueror, Michael Wood breathes life into the great Anglo-Saxon kings Offa, Alfred the Great and Athelstan, as well as the shadowier presences of King Arthur and the mysterious nobleman buried at Sutton Hoo. Settlers, traders and invaders – Angles, Saxons, Vikings – crossed the land, each shaping the landscape, culture and language. During these dynamic and formative centuries, English was used for the first time, the last vestiges of paganism disappeared as Christianity was established, and the foundations of the kingdom of England were laid down.

In Search of the Dark Ages is Michael Wood’s classic account of England’s turbulent history during the years between the end of Roman rule and the Norman Conquest.

In search of the dark ages