Stephen Oppenheimer uses archaeological evidence, genetics, lingusitics and the historical record to explore the origins of the English, and comes up with a radically different picture. Yes, genetically the UK is largely split into two - west and east, but this genetic split dates not from the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings but right back to the Mesolithic Age, when settlers from Iberia occupied the Western half of the country, and settlers from North West Europe occupied the Eastern part of the country. Heavily detailed yet immensely readable, this thesis challenges the accepted story of Saxons and Vikings displacing Celts in the 'Dark Ages.' Read it and make up your own mind!