How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink

4 Apr 2026 · 39 min · Episode 2511

Episode How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink

0:00 38:40

During the latter decades of the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms faced an existential threat as Viking forces launched an assault on a scale never seen before. In this first episode of our four-part Sunday Series on how the Viking Great Heathen Army pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink, James Osborne is joined by Dr Eleanor Barraclough to discuss the coming of the army, and the everyday lives and motivations of the people who would soon lay waste to much of Anglo-Saxon England.

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GO BEYOND THE PODCAST

To deepen your understanding of this pivotal moment in Viking and Anglo-Saxon history, James Osborne has selected some essential reading and listening from our archives: https://bit.ly/412VTIB

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