In the sixth century Britain and Ireland had the reputation of being the most dangerous and barbarous parts of Europe, the Congo of their day. AD 500, written from the perspective of Greek explorers, takes the modern reader on a tour around this strangely unfamiliar version of our islands. Along the way you will learn how to nipple-suck correctly (a sixth-century version of shaking hands); how to get married with ‘a native’; how to spot one of the last of the druids; how not to get sacrificed in the Fens; how to deflect the curses of Celtic poets; and even a hangover cure for Saxon beer. Written as a Greek travel guide/ travelogue AD 500 should not be mistaken for fiction. Extensive endnotes ground the book and the details of sixth-century life found there in the scientific work of modern linguists, archaeologists and historians.

Financial Times 'Informative and entertaining, this is popular history at its best.'