The Ecclesiastical History of the English People; The Greater Chronicle; Bede's Letter to Egbert (Oxford World's Classics)

Regardless of your stand on the historicity of all of the details chronicled by the Venerable Bede, this magnum opus is worthy reading of every Brit or those proud of their English heritage. It is also a good explanation of the establishment of Christianity in Britain and its constituent peoples. This is recommended for anyone interested in early English history.

It contains fascinating side-lights upon the sub-Roman period in British history. There are obviously false stories about miracles mixed up with some verifiable facts, such as an eclipse of the sun that took place on May third, 664 at 4 o, clock in the afternoon. Bede (like many religious teachers today) worried a lot about men's hair styles. British (i.e. Welsh) and Irish Christians had the wrong kind of haircut. He was also very concerned about the correct date of Easter, but he casually mentions an abbess who wanted to pass along the abbacy of her convent to her daughter. Men and women both lived in virginity in the monastery of Coldingham. The notes by McClure and Collins do not comment on these matters.The translation is the Bernard Colgrave one. If you want a Latin text I think you have to get the Loeb edition - I couldn't find one on Project Gutenburg.

Wonderful translation of St. Bede's recounting of English history up to his time (mid 600s AD)Some extraneous information that meant nothing to me not being familiar with English geography but still informative narrative.

Essential reading for travelers to Durham and the UK in general.

The Kindle edition of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People from the Oxford University Press publication is disappointing. There are no chapter breaks, nor section breaks. The map is so small that it is impossible to see. When I tried to enlarge it, it only enlarged about 1mm. So, I still could not see it. Flipping back to the notes at the back of the book was almost impossible. I would recommend that readers get a traditional book for this item.

There are striking similarities between Bede's era (mid 700's) and our own. You would have figured that our "advanced" society would have learned from the past and not be caught up in a never ending repeat of past problems. Any number of passages in this book could be inserted as a lead story in a TV or newspaper report and I suspect no one would know the difference. If the New York Times was being published in the year 731, Bede would have been on the "Best Seller" list.

If you are a Christian of European ancestry, this is for you. It covers your lay and religious background to allow moderns to understand the tribulations and travails of how Christianity has been passed down to us.

Awesome reference work. Some works of history are all we have today to use as puzzle pieces of what went on in the past and, of course, Bede is always there as a possible piece. We have to rely on these works because they were there in the past as "eye witnesses". A library must have.

To extend my knowledge of early English history.

What wre you waiting for? Get it ordered.

This is so very interesting. The description of Britain back then are amazing. A great exploration of Britain and Christian faith.

This is one of the greatest books in the history of English writing and still studied in universities today. This is one of the major sources for learning about the history of England, being bound as it was with ecclesiastical history. It is scholarly but readable and this is a great translation.

It is wonderful to me, to dip into this excellent edition of this book, to hear the voice of Bede, recounting what was recent Church history to him. It brings a precious part of UK history to life. The book itself is beautifully produced - it will become a treasure on my shelves, and very well read.