GILDAS: The Ruin of Britain and other works

"ABOUT THIS BOOK... GILDAS is by far the most important source we possess for the most obscure and extraordinary period in our history. In A.D. 410, the Roman Emperor had told Britain that the legions could no longer defend her and for the next two centuries the British struggled to maintain themselves in the face of the Saxon immigrations and insurrections. Though not primarily intended as a history, Gildas, a British monk, wrote The Ruin of Britain in about 540 and it remains the most vital record to have survived for this period; indeed, the only work that outlines a connected narrative of 5th century British history. The only previous translation of the book has long been out of print and the extreme difficulty of the Latin, as well as current prices, make the original inaccessible to most students and their teachers. The present volume provides both a new translation, that benefits greatly from the latest post-classical Latin scholarship, and also a revised Latin text. ... Whether it is regarded simply as a unique 6th-century British work, more a sermon than a history, or as a primary and unequalled historical source, if one to be interpreted with caution, for that dark period that followed the fall of Rome, there can be no doubt of the value to students and, indeed, the general reader, of this new inexpensive edition in both English and Latin. The book is surprisingly easy to read and may well be seen to have relevance to contemporary problems."