This is the story of the attempt of the Saxon kings emerging from the mists of legend at the time of the fall of Rome to build a new nation around their own province of Wessex in southwest England. By the time they succeeded, the Normans had landed. Placing events in Scandinavia and England in the context of the fall of Rome and the emergence of Byzantium and the Holy Roman Empire, the author analyzes the role of prominent women, geography, economics and strategic thinking behind the military campaigns and sheds light on this dark age.  (GBR77, $14.95)