Great Book

On a whim, helped along by amazon's amazing marketing, I popped Looking For The Lost Gods of England by Kathleen Herbert, ISBN 1898281041, into my shopping basket. Today, I had a chance to read it.

I had to wait around at the little house for a wood-burning stove to be delivered, so was up and out bright and early. I remembered to take tea bags, but forgot the milk, remembered washing up liquid and toilet roll but forgot the biscuits. Luckily, I remembered my specs.

Before settling with the book I hacked at the insanely huge brambles and triffids in the garden and managed to clear right back to the far end of the greenhouse, though I have lots of scratches for my troubles. By mid morning I looked like a distressed beetroot and retreated into the house and parked on the one scruffy chair with my new book.

The book is only 57 pages including maps but it's a treasure trove. Tracing the Engle and their move to the island we now call England she looks at the Gods and Goddesses that the Engle worshipped and some of the traditions and healing that were recorded variously by Tacitus, Bede and others. There is a lot of information crammed into the pages, but the flowing style makes the book easily digestible and compelling.

I can think of few things that you could spend £4.95 on and enjoy more - an excellent read.