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Dear Bernard

 

I’ve just finished reading the Uhtred books again and the question I’ve been thinking about is would there have been an England in a similar time period without the catalyst of the Danish invasions? I’ve read that there seems to have been an ongoing struggle between the various kingdoms of England in the preceding centuries but no one seems to have emergent dominant for any significant time period until after the Danish invasions gradually left Wessex as the only remaining and then strongest Saxon kingdom as the Danes were pushed back. So I’m without the Danes would the four kingdoms of England have likely remained separate for much longer?

 

Though I appreciate it’s only possible to speculate I would be grateful on any views you have on this matte as someone who has written extensively about that time period and events before and after?

 

I’m a big fan of the idea of alternate history but find it unfortunate that most writing on it seems to mainly focus on the 20th century when there seems to over a thousand years of fascinating history before that where things could have been vastly different.

 

regards

 

Matthew