91É«ÇéƬ

Archaeologist Francis Pryor is famous for his work on prehistoric sites, so what is he doing looking at the centuries around the end of direct Roman rule in Britain? In Britain AD (Harper Perennial, £8.99), he argues that being an outsider gives him a fresh eye when he considers the archaeology and history of Britain in another period. Poets and chroniclers reckon King Arthur was the hero of that time. Pryor’s book carefully shows how the roots of the Arthur story could be traced back to pre-Roman times.