This little book is an attempt to give a brief sketch of Britain under the early English conquerors, rather from the social than from the political point of view.

For that purpose not much has been said about the doings of kings and statesmen; but attention has been mainly directed towards the less obvious evidence afforded us by existing monuments as to the life and mode of thought of the people themselves.
The principal object throughout has been to estimate the importance of those elements in modern British life which are chiefly due to purely English or Low-Dutch influences.
The original authorities most largely consulted have been, first and above all, the "English Chronicle," and to an almost equal extent, Baeda's "Ecclesiastical History." These have been supplemented, where necessary, by Florence of Worcester and the other Latin writers of later date.

I have not thought it needful, however, to repeat any of the gossiping stories from William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, and their compeers, which make up the bulk of our early history as told in most modern books.

Still less have I paid any attention to the romances of Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Gildas, Nennius, and the other Welsh tracts have been sparingly employed, and always with a reference by name.