Ultimately, Max Adams’ The First Kingdom seeks to reframe our understanding of post-Roman Britain. Rather than seeing the 5th and 6th centuries as a dark age of decline, he presents them as a formative era—a crucible in which new identities, languages, and political systems emerged.

This was a time of both loss and creation. The legacy of Rome did not vanish overnight but was reinterpreted and repurposed by local elites. The myth of Arthur reflects not only nostalgia for Roman order but also the aspirations of a society seeking cohesion and meaning in a fractured world.

Conclusion: Britain Before England

The First Kingdom invites readers to consider Britain not just as a prologue to England, but as a complex and dynamic land of multiple cultures, languages, and powers. In this view, the age of Arthur is not a footnote in the rise of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, but a vital and vibrant chapter in its own right.

Max Adams’ narrative combines careful scholarship with evocative storytelling. He brings to life a world where hillforts became royal courts, where warlords acted as kings, and where the memory of Rome lingered like a ghost in the stones of ruined villas. The First Kingdom is a vital contribution to the growing field of early medieval British history—and a fascinating journey into a world on the edge of myth and history shutdown123