{"product_id":"the-bone-chests-unlocking-the-secrets-of-the-anglosaxons-9780008447328","title":"The Bone Chests: Unlocking the Secrets of the Anglo-Saxons","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLength\u003c\/strong\u003e: 272 pages\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date\u003c\/strong\u003e: 14 September 2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e: HarperCollins Publishers\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eTIMES \u003c\/em\u003eHISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘A diligent historian and a superb writer’\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom bioarchaeologist and bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eRiver Kings\u003c\/em\u003e, a gripping new history of the making of England as a nation, told through six bone chests, stored for over a thousand years in Winchester Cathedral.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn December 1642, during the Civil War, Parliamentarian troops stormed the magnificent cathedral, intent on destruction. Reaching the presbytery, its beating heart, the soldiers searched out ten beautifully decorated wooden chests resting high up on the stone screens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThose chests contained some of England’s most venerated, ancient remains: the bones of eight kings, including William Rufus and Cnut the Great – the only Scandinavian king to rule England and a North Sea empire; three bishops ; and a formidable queen, Emma of Normandy. These remains belong to the very people who witnessed and orchestrated the creation of the kingdom of Wessex in the seventh century, who lived through the creation of England as a unified country in response to the Viking threat, and who were part and parcel of the Norman conquest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn that day, the soldiers smashed several chests to the ground, using the bones as missiles to shatter the cathedral’s stained glass windows. Afterwards, the clergy scrambled to collect the scattered remains.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 2012, the six remaining chests were reopened. Using the latest scientific methods, a team of forensic archaeologists attempted to identify the contents: they discovered an elaborate jumble of bones, including the remains of two forgotten princes. In \u003cem\u003eThe Bone Chests\u003c\/em\u003e, Cat Jarman builds on this evidence to untangle the stories of the people within. It is an extraordinary and sometimes tragic tale, and one of transformation. Why these bones? Why there? Can we ever really identify them? In a palimpsest narrative that runs through more than a millennium of British history, it tells the story of both the seekers and the sought, of those who protected the bones and those who spurned them; and of the methods used to investigate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWeight\u003c\/strong\u003e: 642g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimension\u003c\/strong\u003e: 162 x 245 x 36 (mm)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13\u003c\/strong\u003e: 9780008447328\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cat Jarman","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":44566795288826,"sku":"9780008447328","price":17.85,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/products\/1694776106231_book.jpg?v=1694861913","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/the-bone-chests-unlocking-the-secrets-of-the-anglosaxons-9780008447328","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}