Originally published in 1948, The Medieval Foundations of England is a chronological framework of the history of ideas and action during the medieval period. The book discusses the fundamental problems of medieval life in England, examining the agricultural foundation of England, the impact of the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian civilizations, the feudalization of society, and the interpenetration of Anglo-Saxon and Norman civilizations. The book also examines the issues faced by the ‘New Monarchy’ of Henry II and the development of Parliament, it also examines how the intellectual Renaissance of the twelfth century affected medieval society. The book critically examines the historical sources of information and provides a reading list for each chapter.

The first book in Peter Ackroyd's history of England series, which has since been followed up with two more installments, Tudors and Rebellion. In Foundation, the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death, in 1509, of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past--a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house--and describes in rich prose the successive waves of invaders who made England English, despite being themselves Roman, Viking, Saxon, or Norman French. With his extraordinary skill for evoking time and place and his acute eye for the telling detail, Ackroyd recounts the story of warring kings, of civil strife, and foreign wars. But he also gives us a vivid sense of how England's early people lived: the homes they built, the clothes the wore, the food they ate, even the jokes they told. All are brought vividly to life in this history of England through the narrative mastery of one of Britain's finest writers.

A detailed survey which examines the major developments in English society during this period of social crises, population decline, agarian unrest, the introduction to enclosures - and political tensions particularly over succession.

A comprehensive introduction to medieval England surveying the years from the departure of the Roman legions to the Battle of Bosworth.

England's last medieval century was characterised by social stability economic development and cultural vigour which laid the foundations for the emergence of early modern society. Placing the English experience within the vital context of the British Isles, the book ranges from the reign of Henry IV to the closing of the middle ages during the reign of Henry VIII.".