Sarum is the site of the first settlement in England. This novel uses this first area of settlement and its surrounding areas - Salisbury and Stonehenge - as a setting for a history of England. This starts in the Ice Age and goes all the way through to almost the present day. We follow through generations of cave men, High Priests, Roman invasion, Norse invasion and the building of the cathedral that houses the infamous Salisbury spire. Apparently this was Edward Rutherford's first book - his passion for history and the work that has gone into its making is obvious.
It deals well with many aspects of history that are not well-known to many including the Pagan-esque rituals that took place prior to Roman invasion and a detailed account of the suffering of many during the 1300s Black Death. Many interesting characters burst forth through these pages and especially strong female characters (which I am always a fan of). The battle between the Anglican Protestant church and the ingrained Catholic one is also an interesting one that Rutherford expounds with a great wealth of knowledge on the subject. It is interesting to contrast how this religious battle played out in England compared with Ireland and this I was easily able to do having just read two other books detailing Rutherford's history of Ireland.
The only possible complaint I have with this book is that it is extremely long. Like much of history there are points I find particularly interesting and points that I would rather were not covered in much detail. That said, it would be impossible for the author to cater to all interests in this context and the maps and family trees in the preface of the book contain a lot of useful detail. For what it's worth I would definitely recommend this book.
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