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Now translated for the first time, it is readable, well annotated and well indexed We owe a debt of gratitude to Preest. The value of this book to historians, for whom the Latin version is inaccessible, is patent. I approached it as a general reader and I found it delightful. CATHOLIC HERALD Preest's admirable work therefore fills a lacuna in the history of the Church of England from its inception to the early 12th century... Lucid and elegant, and presents William's narrative in an elegant and readable manner. CHURCH TIMES William was born c.1095 not far from Malmesbury in Wiltshire; he entered the monastery at Malmesbury as a boy, and stayed there as a monk for the rest of his life, writing works which were to win him lasting fame as a historian. His Deeds of the Bishops of England chronicles the activities of the bishops in all the dioceses of England from Augustine's arrival in Canterbury in 597 down to the 1120s when the work was being written; in addition to bishops and cathedrals, William also includes saints who were not bishops, and religious houses other than cathedrals. For the period after Bede's death in 730, it is the most important single source for English church history, and indeed, together with William's other great achievement, the Deeds of the Kings of England, for the history of England.Much of the material William retells in his own style, and with considerable narrative skill, from earlier sources available to him in the monastic library. But he also travelled widely in England, and the organisation of the Deeds reflects a clear chronological and topographical order, from Canterbury and Rochester to London, East Anglia and Wessex, north to York, Lindisfarne and Durham, thence to Mercia, and finally, 'returning home after a long journey', to his own abbey of Malmesbury and St Aldhelm..
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Recent years have seen a welcome growth of interest in the history of early Rome. Libri Annales Pontificum Maximorum: the Origins of the Annalistic Tradition contributes important information on this period by focusing on the earliest stages of Roman historical writing. The book is once again available, with a new Introduction by the author that brings the work up to date and helps place it in its current context. This book remains the starting point for study of the pre-annalistic tradition of Roman history.
When first published, the volume sparked a lively debate among classicists and historians of the ancient world. Previous scholarship had often assigned the pontifical chronicle a central role not only in preserving the history of the early Republic, but also in shaping the form of the annalistic tradition. But the author showed that these assumptions rested on insecure foundations; to a large extent, they misrepresented the historiographic development of the annalistic tradition as we know it from, above all, Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
Perhaps the book's most controversial contention was that the final eighty-book edition of the chronicle, which previous scholars had dated to the later second century BCE, is more probably a massive reworking of materials in the Augustan period. This finding will likely require a considerable revision in our understanding of the development of the annalistic tradition. In the course of making these innovative arguments, the author offers extensive information about the origins of the annalistic tradition and about the early history and historiography of Rome.
Bruce W. Frier is Professor of Classics and Roman Law, and Henry King Ransom Professor of Law, University of Michigan. He has published numerous books and articles on classical and legal topics, and has won the Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit from the American Philological Association.
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Price: $65.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Gesta Pontificum Anglorum (The History of the English Bishops) is a modern edition of one of the most important medieval texts written c. 1125 by one of England's key historians of the period, William, Monk of Malmesbury. It is a is a vivid narrative on the English Church, its bishoprics and monasteries, from c. 600 to William's contemporary era, and the edition features the original Latin text of the manuscript with the English translation alongside. Conceived as a companion piece to his Gesta Regum Anglorum, this historical work was a unique enterprise, and the result is a substantial book, elegantly written, full of original information, and characterized by intelligent interpretation and judgement. The first four books of the text, treat each diocese in turn, and the fifth book is devoted to the history of William's own monastery. A second volume by R. M. Thomson will contain an introduction and detailed commentary on the work..
Price: $225.46 [Notify me when price goes down.]