The World of Bede

This reprint of the 1970 classic provides a very accessible introduction into the intellectual background and writings of the venerable Bede. It is based on the written history of Bede and his times and mentions but does not rely on archealogical evidence to support its description of this early flowering of enlightenment in a dark time.The text has held up well in the past 30 years and it provides great insight into the history of the English as Bede knew it, Bede's intellectual environment in which he wrote his works on various topics, and, of course, on the history of the church in England.It reads as a tour guide book to the physical and mental territory in which Bede lived and wrote. Not too hagiographic - but it does assume at least a passing familiarity with Bede's more famous works.